Derrick White has long been an important player for the Boston Celtics, and that hasn't changed at all this season. He is a glue guy. He is an incredibly smart player who seems to always make good and quick decisions. He is active on defense and makes life difficult for opposing ball handlers. He moves the ball around. And especially this season, he has done a great job of driving to the basket and scoring in the paint.
All of this was on display during Boston's 109-102 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday. In the game, White recorded 24 points, seven assists, four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in 35:30. He also made some incredibly clutch plays (namely his and-one with about two minutes left in the game to put Boston up by five).
The 32-year-old is still a great player, and the Celtics are lucky to have him. But his three-point shooting, which was horrible last season, has not gotten any better this year. And at this point, it's fair to wonder if this is just how it's going to be for White from here on out.
Derrick White still hasn't rediscovered his long ball
Last season was technically a career year for White (a career-high 16.5 PPG, 5.4 APG, 4.4 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 1.1 SPG, finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and earned All-Defensive First Team honors for the first time in his NBA career), but his efficiency was awful.
White shot 39.4% from the field on 14.4 attempts per game (he had never shot below 41.1% during a full season) and 32.7% from deep on 8.3 attempts per game (second-worst; he shot 31.2% from deep in 2021-22, which was split between the San Antonio Spurs and the Celtics).
Through eight games this season, he is shooting 42.5% from the field on 10.9 attempts per game (still not great, but it's an improvement) and 29.3% from beyond the arc on 5.1 attempts per game (big thumbs down). And against Milwaukee, he shot 7-for-18 (38.9%) from the field and 1-for-7 (14.3%) from deep.
It's a good thing he has Jayson Tatum and Paul George carrying most of the offensive load, because one of his biggest problems last year was that he couldn't handle being the second option behind Jaylen Brown for most of the season. That's the biggest reason his volume is down, which it should be until he can maybe find his shot again. But this is still a major concern.
Derrick White might just be what he is as a shooter
White wasn't much of a shooter before his trade to Boston. In parts of five seasons with the Spurs, he shot 34.4% on 3.7 three-point attempts. Even in his first half-season with the Celtics, he shot just 30.6% on 4.3 attempts from deep.
The Colorado native benefited from having players like Tatum, Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday ahead of him. It set him up for cleaner looks, and it was much more difficult for opposing defenses to zero in on him. He doesn't have that luxury (at least to that extent) anymore, and he might not have it again. And given how important he is to the Celtics, to say that's not ideal is an understatement.
White isn't getting any younger. There's no doubt that he is still a great player and is contributing heavily to Boston's success, but if he hasn't found his shot again at this point, he might never do it.
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