Derrick White

With Marcus Smart traded to Memphis, White was in line to become the starting point guard in Boston. Coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed that assertion in late July. However, the Celtics made a surprise move to add Jrue Holiday right before training camp. White could still start at shooting guard, but he may have to settle for a tweener role again. White led all guards in blocked shots last season, but that doesn't mean he'll be able to keep up defensively with the speedier floor generals. On offense, White could very well exceed his career-high of 5.6 assists per game, which occurred in 2021-22 on a bad Spurs team. He'll have plenty of scoring options to set up with the Celtics. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis should offer White plenty of easy dimes. Last year, the former Spur found his shooting stroke when he drained 46.2 percent of his shots, after two poor shooting seasons. White also shot a career-high 87.5 percent from the free-throw line. Streaky shooter Payton Prichard will back up White and Holiday at both guard spots, but Boston's starters will likely play heavy minutes, and Prichard's defensive woes will limit his run. That means plenty of minutes for White even if he isn't an everyday starter. The newly head-shaven guard could easily average over 30 minutes a game for the first time in his career. White's arrow is pointing up.

Last season, White was cruising through arguably his career-best season with the Spurs when, at the deadline, San Antonio dealt him to the surging Celtics. While White found himself in a winning situation, his role shifted from starter to reserve, with his minutes dipping from 30.3 to 27.4 per game. The bigger difference was, with Boston's loaded roster, White's shot attempts dropped from 11.6 to 8.8 per contest. However, his versatile skill set allowed White to play a sixth-man role for the Celtics through their Finals run. But this offseason, the C's acquired another versatile, tall guard. Former Pacer Malcolm Brogdon will probably bump White out of the sixth-man role, though the pair could come off the bench together as a formidable backup backcourt. Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart isn't going anywhere, so Brogdon's minutes will probably come from White and Payton Pritchard. Coach Ime Udoka will probably also experiment with small-ball lineups to give stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum more rest. That could also give veteran Al Horford a break and create more minutes for White and Brogdon. Excessive talent is a good problem for a team, but it may create inconsistent stats this season from White.

White might be the player that benefits the most from DeMar DeRozan's departure to the Heat, as he suddenly finds himself in a position to be one of the alpha dogs on the Spurs offense. He's coming off a strong 2020-21 season that saw him deliver career-best figures in both points (15.4) and three-pointers made (2.3) per game. The fifth-year pro out of Colorado is not the most efficient scorer out there, and his field goal percentage has been trending in the wrong direction ever since he started his NBA career, so he will probably need a lot of volume to become a reliable scoring threat. Fortunately for him, the Spurs now have a big hole on offense following DeRozan's departure, and White showed enough improvement as a player last season to believe he can be an effective replacement, or at least mitigate some of the impact caused by the departure of DeRozan. While fantasy owners should be cautious when drafting White, he should be a good enough scorer to be a mid-round selection, especially considering he can also bring other things to the table such as passing (has dished out at least three dimes per game in each of the last three seasons) and defense (combined 1.7 blocks and steals per game in 2020-21). He might not be ready to become a star in the league just yet, but he should a more-than-serviceable fantasy asset.

After starting 55 games in his second career NBA season, White started just 20 times last year, though he remained a significant part of the Spurs' rotation, with his minutes per game dipping only slightly from 25.8 to 24.7. His scoring improved noticeably, presumably due both to natural development and due to playing more of his minutes against opposing bench units, as he scored 11.3 points per game after finishing with 9.9 in the previous campaign. Some of that is thanks to a small bump in his usage rate, which increased from 17.7 percent to 18.9 percent. More of it has to do with his improved performance from beyond the arc, however, as he increased his three-point percentage from 33.8 percent to 36.6 percent while increasing his attempts per game from 2.1 to 3.2. He also improved at the free throw line, seeing his percentage from the stripe jump from 77.2 percent to 85.3 percent, which indicates that he did in fact improve as a shooter and wasn't just facing softer defense. That's an encouraging sign should he wind up back as a starter this season, as he was down the stretch. He did undergo toe surgery in August, though whether or not that will affect him at the start of the upcoming campaign is not clear.

White took a big step forward in his second year with San Antonio, averaging 25.8 minutes across 67 contests, starting 55 of them. He averaged 9.9 points, 3.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds -- all career highs. He also contributed 1.7 combined blocks/steals and shot a respectable 47.9 field goal percentage and 33.8 three-point percentage. White showed off his all-around game as a sophomore, with the ability to play both ends of the court at a high level and contribute valuable numbers across multiple categories. He turned his scoring up in the playoffs, averaging 15.1 points in seven games against Denver, displaying his upside with a 36-point, five-rebound, five-assist explosion in Game 3. White will look to carry the momentum from a big season into 2019-20. The return of point guard Dejounte Murray to the backcourt could cut into White's overall production, but the latter is still a breakout candidate as the Spurs' starting two-guard.

White was selected by the Spurs with the 29th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. He was a standout performer at the University of Colorado - Colorado Springs in Division II for his first three collegiate seasons, before heading to Colorado for his senior campaign. In joining the Buffaloes, he proved he could play against better competition, averaging an impressive 18.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals across 32.8 minutes. His shooting percentages of 50.7 percent from the field and 39.6 percent from the three-point line indicate he can score from all over the floor, which is esssential to stick in today's NBA landscape. The 23-year-old guard picked up All-Conference First Team honors in the Pac-12, while also being named to the conference's All-Defensive Team, which comes as no surprise for a Gregg Popovich coached team that prides itself on playing defense. His versatility on both sides of the ball should give both Popovich and GM R.C. Buford another weapon to develop over the next few years, but it's hard to see White getting a ton of run during his rookie campaign. Tony Parker will miss the first three months of the season while recovering from a ruptured quadriceps, so White could see spot minutes as the third point guard behind Patty Mills and Dejounte Murray out of the gate.