Derrick White’s shooting numbers last season told one story. His defense told a much bigger one.
With Jayson Tatum sidelined, the Celtics asked White to handle a far larger offensive load, and the shot-making never really came around. That led plenty of people to label the season a disappointment.
The box score backed up that feeling, too. The scoring wasn’t there, and the efficiency wasn’t either.
But White has never been defined by how pretty his offensive line looks. Even while the jumper was giving him trouble, he still helped Boston with his passing, playmaking, and ball security. The real separation, though, came on the other end of the floor.
White was already acknowledged for it by the league. He earned First-Team All-Defense honors and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Everyone knows he’s one of the NBA’s best team defenders - always in the right place, always covering ground, and somehow functioning like a rim protector even as a guard.
He’s also one of the league’s best off-ball defenders, and the blocks and steals piled up in a way that made last season feel historic in that area.
What’s less widely appreciated is how dominant he was when guarding the ball. According to a Synergy Sports and SportsRadar metric, White finished with the highest point-of-attack defensive impact in the NBA among qualified players. He was the best in the league at defending drives directly and giving up very few points when those possessions came his way.
Using that metric, White posted a 99 Defensive Impact Rank, tops in the league. He finished ahead of a group that included Dyson Daniels (97), Amen Thompson (97), Toumani Camara (93), Cason Wallace (91), and others.
That’s a pretty serious list of defenders, and White’s name belongs right there with them. He may not pop the same way some of those players do.
He’s not bigger, faster, or more explosive than all of them. But the impact is undeniable.
That’s the point with White: the game keeps rewarding him in ways that don’t always jump out in a casual glance. Yes, the shooting slump was real. But so was everything else he did to help Boston.
And with Tatum back this season, Payton Pritchard likely seeing a bump in usage, and Paul George added to the mix, White should slide into a role that looks a lot more familiar. If his shot gets back to its usual level and the rest of his game stays this sharp, the people who spent the offseason doubting him may end up looking pretty foolish.
In Other News...
Why Celtics Felt Jaylen Brown No Longer Fit Joe Mazzullas Vision
After consecutive postseasons that fell short of expectations, the Celtics reached the point where keeping Jaylen Brown no longer aligned with the direction Joe Mazzulla wanted for the team. Boston has leaned into a possession maxing approach under Mazzulla, and the front office apparently decided that style mattered more than simply preserving a star name on the roster.
Basketball Universitys analysis helped frame the issue by pointing to Browns lower possession value, even with the strong individual numbers he continued to post. The move sends ripple effects beyond Boston, with Philadelphia now in the picture too, since Brown may be a cleaner fit in Nick Nurses system than he was in the Celtics increasingly rigid vision. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Suddenly Have A Reason To Watch Jalen Duren Closely
Jalen Durens extension standoff in Detroit has quietly turned into something worth tracking well beyond the Pistons own building. The big man is looking for a deal worth more than $40 million per season, while Detroit has apparently been reluctant to go past $35 million, and the gap has lingered long enough that the sides still do not appear close. For the Celtics, the connection is indirect but real, since they are holding a future draft pick that could be shaped by where Duren ends up next.
The more the impasse stretches on, the more the possibility grows that Duren could take the one-year qualifying offer and head toward unrestricted free agency next summer. If he gets there, the market could get complicated fast, with the Clippers already mentioned as a possible landing spot. That is the kind of front-office ripple Boston will be watching closely, because even one roster move in another conference can change how valuable that future pick looks down the line. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Set A Massive Price For Jaylen Brown And Minnesota Walked Away
The Timberwolves explored the possibility of prying Jaylen Brown away from Boston, but the talks never got far once the asking price came into focus. The Celtics reportedly set a steep bar that included Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, a reminder of how highly Brown was valued and how hard it is for rival teams to even get serious traction on a deal of that magnitude.
Minnesota ultimately chose a different path, sending Naz Reid out in a move that brought in LaMelo Ball instead, with the front office clearly preferring a younger point guard to fit alongside Anthony Edwards. Brown ended up with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he now joins a roster that already looks far more dangerous, while Bostons willingness to hold firm helped shape a deal tree that sent the market in another direction. [Read more 🡒]