Derrick White's shooting was abysmal with the Boston Celtics last season. In 77 games, he averaged 16.5 points (career high) but shot 39.4% from the field (worst of his career; previous worst was 41.1% during the 2020-21 season) and 32.7% from deep (second-worst of his career; worst is 31.2% during the 2021-22 season, which was split between the San Antonio Spurs and the Celtics).
White was also a ghost in the playoffs. In seven games against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round, he averaged 11.1 points on 32.1/27.3/84.6% shooting splits (and this includes a 26-point, 34.6/31.3% shooting performance in Game 7).
It was a tough shooting season for the Colorado native last year, but based on his latest performance, it looks like the Celtics may have found a solution, and he could be in for a bounceback year.
Why Derrick White shot so poorly for the Celtics last season
A lot of his poor shooting likely has to do with the fact that he was a No. 2 scoring option for most of the season because of Jayson Tatum's absence. And that was just a role he couldn't handle.
He had too much on his plate because he was also Boston's most important player on the defensive side of the ball (he finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting and earned All-Defensive First Team honors for the first time in his career), and he had a ton of ball-handling responsibilities. It's tough to give it your all in every area of the game, especially when you're taking on as big a role as he did for the first time. Something's going to give, and it was White's efficiency that got the nod.
With Tatum back for a full season, Paul George in the mix, and Payton Pritchard potentially entering the starting lineup, a lot of that pressure should be taken off of White, who was impressive during Boston's latest preseason performance (yes, I know it's preseason, but these are still basketball games; are they not?).
Derrick White had success inside the arc for the Celtics against Charlotte
During Wednesday's preseason game against the Charlotte Hornets, White scored 17 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 1-for-2 from deep (he also recorded three rebounds, two assists, and four steals in 20 minutes).
What stood out to me wasn't just how few three-pointers White took in the game; it was how aggressive he was at getting to the basket and driving inside with the ball in his hands. Obviously, only two of White's nine field goal attempts were from behind the line, but all the other attempts were him driving to (or right near) the paint and either getting a layup or pulling up for a short-mid-range jumper.
Against Charlotte, the 32-year-old took fewer three-point attempts than Tatum (eight), George (seven), Pritchard, Luka Garza (four each), Hugo Gonzalez, and Neemias Queta (no, seriously; they each took three attempts), yet he scored the second-most points in the entire game.
White wasn't much of a three-point shooter until he came to Boston anyway (he shot 34.4% on 3.7 three-point attempts in parts of five seasons in San Antonio), and it was clear he benefited from having a loaded roster around him, which gave him a ton of great looks.
I'm sure Joe Mazzulla isn't going to keep White from outside the perimeter all season, but it seems like there is some value in having him do some damage inside the arc. And it might be exactly what he needs to bounce back for the Celtics this season.
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