Derrick White Propaganda

This week's basketball hyperfixation:

I initially planned to write a piece about the most “invaluable” players in the NBA, guys who aren’t your typical All-Star.

I start making a list to prepare for my research/writing, and the first person who comes to mind is Derrick White.

Naturally, I tuned in to a recent Boston game and focused my attention on him.

I couldn’t even get through the first game, but it wasn’t because I was unimpressed.

Watching one Celtics game and keying in on him the entire time — I couldn’t believe all the ways he affects a game.

I’ve known White is an incredible player; I thought he was a jack-of-all-trades, and his main offensive driver was his deep ball.

It’s way beyond that.

I’m not much of a list guy…

However, there’s a case to be made that Derrick White is one of the 20-25 best, most impactful players in basketball.

To really show how Derrick White stands out, it helps to break things down. First, there’s the shooting. White is known to be knockdown as a spot-up shooter, posting above the 95th percentile in the last two seasons, so it’s astounding how he’s at just 48% true shooting this season on these opportunities. Despite this slump, there are only a few players in the league who could be struggling that hard and still make loads of winning plays, and probably zero guards who could leave their mark like White does if their shot suffered the same.

I’m fully comfortable with Derrick White being unable to throw it in the ocean this year — I want all of it, huck all the game logs and poor shooting splits at me, and I will sling it back at you like a monkey at the zoo.

A few specifics jump off the screen for me, first — it’s the defense. Even though his shot is broke, his impact is everywhere else on the court, starting with his work on the defensive end. (I’ll break that down in a moment.)

His situational awareness, understanding of spacing, and the playmaking tie everything together—White reads the floor at an elite level, and you’ll see just how much that matters as we keep going.

Let’s tackle each area, one at a time.

6/20 has never mattered less.

The aforementioned first game of the Derrick White film I watched was last week’s Heat-Celtics matchup.

White went 6/20 from the field and 4/12 from the three — yet, it had no bearing on anything else he did out on the hardwood.

Billy Donovan has a great coaching strategy when one of his players is discouraged after an off night.

The ethos of this message is fantastic, and I could see it rallying a majority of college/high-school players.

But how many professionals who make 30 million dollars would have their fire lit by this message?

This belief is the creed by which White plays, and it’s intoxicating to watch.

It’s all over the tape like wild splatter in an abstract painting.

Like here, what the hell is this?

This kind of basketball instinct is unmatched. Who in the world pulls off a backwards deflection? It might seem minor, but White consistently makes possession-swinging plays out of nowhere. Seriously, if not Derrick White, what other guard sustains winning in this many ways on both ends? When you notice something rare, it’s worth asking yourself: Who else is doing this?

You see plays like this, and it makes sense why he was getting real rotation minutes for Team USA‘s gold-medal squad.

White isn’t your regular pest or lockdown point of attack defender — he makes all these little things culminate into a substantial impression on games, like a 96th percentile in defensive eFG% impact.

Take that circus deflection again — these aren’t little flashes, this play shows up all over the stats. For example, White finds a way to contest shots at an extremely high rate without failing —5.9%, to be specific—and it isn’t just contests either. Databallr has him at the 100th percentile for blocks per 100 possessions (2.1), which is second among guards in the league.

His defensive genius reaches out through the TV and grabs you.

For instance, where his blocks come, it’s not just punishing positional peers who dare to take him to the cup, but 7-footers.

Classic Miami Heat, feeding a mismatch early into the shot-clock all because their pace dictates these unfortunate switches — Erik Spoelstra, you’re a genius, but this is what Derrick White does with your cute little offense.

(A lot of bathroom jokes in this one, really showcasing my maturity.)

Anyhow, a cold shooting night against the Heat didn’t dissuade him from adhering to his routine, as he recorded 4 blocks that night.

His final one on the game coming in the timeliest manner.

The U of Colorado alum excels on both ends of the floor, despite what I’ve led you to believe about the daunting shooting woes.

What stands out in his offense is what he’s able to do for his team’s shot quality both off-ball and in his playmaking.

For example, this consummate 45 cut.

Immediately after Vucevic catches this post-entry pass, Norm Powell, who’s guarding White, turns his back, leaving White to dart through the lane for an easy two.

Timely cuts and relocation are necessary tools for players who play alongside high on-ball-percentage players like Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard.

White has a keen aptitude for knowing when and where to move — like this quick relocation to the corner.

The shot doesn’t need to go down to make a difference. White’s finding open space in the corner leaves Davion Mitchell, a highly capable and active defender, behind the play. Leaving Mitchell panicked enough on his closeout to make a fatal mistake, fouling a three-point shooter.

What has me most hooked about his game, though, is his unbelievably overlooked passing.

All that hoops-savvy and superb feel covers the entirety of White’s game. And what has me most hooked, though, is his passing, which almost seems overlooked at this point.

Watch as Vucevic gets open on this early slip in the middle of the floor, leaving Powell stuck between two defenders, and what White does with this floor imbalance.

White scans and hesitates; instead of throwing it in immediately, he looks down at Hauser for a split second, forcing Powell to hesitate as he’s caught in the middle. This quickly opens up the opportunity for White to zip a perfectly accurate shot for an easy layup.

This is a common occurrence for him, averaging 3 per 100 possessions, which is good for the 94th percentile in the NBA.

Matured patience allows White to make these reads at the most opportune times, and it’s why he leads his team in four-factor metrics like impact on teammate shot quality.

That individual brilliance translates into Boston’s overall success, too: when White is on the court, the Celtics’ net rating skyrockets, and their offense and defense both improve noticeably. Underlining just how much he elevates the entire team when he’s on the floor.

One more beaut of a dime, and then I’ll wrap this up.

Dru Smith gets stuck on Vucevic, Jacquez sees this and initiates a switch to close the mismatch gap — the way they went about it opened up the door for Boston’s new big to seal off his man.

Jacquez, unfortunately, didn’t have enough time to front Vuc fully because, despite being pressured and forced to turn nearly completely away from the hoop, White delivers a silky touch pass right into the raised hand.

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It’s no shock that Boston plays its best basketball when Derrick White is on the floor; he’s currently posting some of the best on/off splits in the league.

I believe his outside shooting will see some positive regression to the mean, especially if Boston gets that one guy back. Regardless, the league views the Celtics as a very “live and die by the three” type of team — primarily true, but White doesn’t live or die by shots falling because his game transcends that.

I’m really grateful that my article idea was interrupted by the power of this bald legend. Sure, he’s not your typical #1-2 option superstar, but it’s time we put that aside and give Derrick White some flowers as one of the greatest game influencers in the NBA right now