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Writer's pictureSteven Poss

One Of February’s Hottest NBA Players Was Hidden By His Bench Role

Almost exactly a year ago, at the NBA trade deadline, the Celtics made a move that many people didn’t see as all that important. They traded Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, and a top-four protected first-round pick in 2022 to acquire Derrick White. White showed heart and promise from his first minutes in green to the last seconds of the finals. Although he was exposed a bit defensively against the Warriors, he is still a plus defender.

White is undoubtedly one of the lesser-known names around the association, but since the Celtics have been so banged up. Missing Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown for an extended period, Tatum has been rested lately, while even Horford has needed time to recover. As a result, White has had to step up and produce.

NBA Needs Unexpected Stars

Even with all the injuries and a tough schedule, the Celtics have gone 5-2 in February, with White averaging 37 minutes of playing time while producing 22.4 points, 6.9 assists 5.1 rebounds on a 50/40/90 shooting split from the court over the last five games he has 42 assists and made 20 threes.

The Celtics were down their entire starting five against the Bucks last night, and they brought that team (at full health to overtime). Derrick White once again led the green with 27 points and 12 assists. The dude has heart and plays defense well enough. He shouldn’t be the primary defender on the court, but if he is the third or fourth guy, he does his job.

Derrick is playing a clean style of basketball not only in the month but for the whole year, having a career-high assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.54 to one. In addition, his effective field goal and true shooting percentage are career highs (besides his rookie year, where he appeared in 17 games).

Can This White Hot Run Continue?

White is not only stepping up, but he is doing so in a way that he could still be productive when everyone else comes back. For example, 91.8% of his made three-pointers are assisted. The percentage is almost ten points higher than his career rate of 82.3. This means he is operating the catch-and-shoot at a high level, and he doesn’t need to be ball dominant to take over a game.

During the NBA Finals last spring White had found some shooting confidence, but he let that get into his head and drove the lane entirely too often. His finishing is shaky that close, with big bodies hitting him. This year he is playing with decisiveness. If he drives and it’s not there, he kicks when he’s open for the three; he shoots it. The hesitation is gone, and he feels comfortable in the line-up and his role still fits in when the rest of the starters return.

I understand he isn’t averaging over 30 points a night but he is playing lights-out ball and has been carrying the green through this period of injuries and All-Star break tune-out. His minutes are way up and he has responded with increased stats in every area. White isn’t going to turn into a top-15 player all of a sudden but he can sustain this level of play even without the play time due to how he is scoring.

Bottom Line

If White and Brogdon continue to play with efficiency and ball control on the second unit Boston will be the most dangerous team in the competition. The bench is Brogdon, White, Hauser, Grant Williams, and Mike Muscala or Blake Griffin which is one of the worse starting units in the league but could still be a play in the team’s starting line-up. I wouldn’t rule out them adding one more player from the buyout pool but this team is incredibly deep. If White can keep his shoot streak up when the starters return I could see a return to the Finals for his squad.

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