Derrick White’s three-point dip has become one of those nagging Celtics storylines: irritating, noticeable, but not yet a real problem.
A year ago, the drop-off made some sense. White’s shooting from deep slid from 38.4% to 32.7% last season, and the easy explanation was the absence of Jayson Tatum. With Tatum back in the mix, the expectation was that White would settle back into the kind of rhythm that made him one of the league’s better floor spacers.
That hasn’t happened. Eight games into the season, White is down to 29.3% from three. His overall field-goal shooting has actually improved, climbing from 39.4% to 42.5%, but the long-range numbers have kept sinking.
The Celtics can live with it, at least for now. White isn’t carrying the same offensive burden he had to shoulder last season, and Boston is still getting enough from the rest of the roster to keep winning. The team is 6-2, owns a top-10 offense, and sits at No. 8 in offensive rating at plus-3.6.
Even with the cold stretch from deep, White still matters plenty. Boston’s offense is better when he’s on the floor, posting a plus-5.6 offensive rating with him in the game. That’s why the misses are so frustrating: the Celtics are already good, and White’s shot is one of the things that could push them into a different tier.
Opponents still have to honor him because of the spacing he provides. With Tatum drawing attention and the resilient Paul George also forcing defenses to stay honest, White has been getting cleaner looks. If the elite shooting he showed from 2022 to 2025 comes back, Boston gets a lot more dangerous.
For now, it’s still early, and the season is just getting started. White has time to turn it around.
And even with the slump, he showed last night against Milwaukee that he can still swing a game when it matters. Boston played without Jayson Tatum and nearly coughed up a 22-point lead, but White helped steady things in the clutch.
That’s the bigger picture here: the Celtics know what he can do. If the three-pointer starts falling again, they may not have to sweat nights like that nearly as much.
In Other News...
Paul George Concern Is Already Hanging Over Bostons Biggest Gamble
Bostons blockbuster swap of Jaylen Brown for Paul George brought instant star power, but it also brought the kind of long-view anxiety that tends to follow a veteran wing with mileage on the clock. George has been productive early, giving the Celtics the kind of two-way presence they were clearly chasing, yet the trade has already been framed around a bigger question than his opening weeks: how much can Boston ask of him before the season starts asking back?
That concern is especially pointed because the Celtics did not make this move for October alone. The real test is whether George can still look like himself when the games matter most in the spring, and some around the league are already wondering how carefully Boston will have to manage his workload to get there. For a team that pushed its chips in, the gamble is less about what George can do now than whether he can hold up long enough to make the deal look right when the playoffs arrive. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics Have A Fourth Quarter Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Celtics have done plenty right through eight games to sit at 6-2, but the closing minutes keep undercutting the bigger picture. A team that has built leads early and often has not been nearly as secure when the game tightens up late, with opponents repeatedly finding room to chip away in the fourth quarter and turn comfortable margins into uneasy finishes.
The common thread has been hard to miss for anyone tracking the rotations and the defensive possessions that follow. Bostons late-game issues have shown up most clearly on the perimeter, where opponents have been able to generate the kind of looks that fuel comeback runs, and the lineup combinations used in those stretches are starting to draw scrutiny for whether they are holding up well enough when the legs get heavy. [Read more 🡒]
Celtics May Still Need One More Scorer Than Fans Realize
Bostons offense has looked good enough to keep it in the contender conversation, but there is still a case to be made that the roster could use one more dependable scorer who can create his own shot when possessions tighten up. Norman Powell fits that mold as a three-level threat, the kind of player who could ease some of the burden on Jayson Tatum and Paul George while giving the Celtics another option when defenses load up on the stars.
The wrinkle is that any real pursuit would not be simple, even if Chicago is expected to listen on veteran pieces before the deadline. Boston would have to make the math work under its current cap and roster constraints, which is never a small task this deep into the season. For now, it remains a speculative fit rather than a move in motion, but it is the sort of possibility that tends to linger around a team with championship expectations. [Read more 🡒]