Celtics Extend Star Guard to Keep Championship Core Together Long-Term

An important step in securing the championship core of the Boston Celtics was completed on Monday when the Celtics announced that they had reached an agreement with Derrick White on a four-year extension worth $125.9 million.

The deal was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and tacks on four years to White's existing deal, which has one year left on it. The veteran extension is the highest amount that the Celtics could commit to White, who will make $145 million total over the next five years in Boston.

White was acquired by the Celtics in 2022 from the San Antonio Spurs and immediately became a spark off the bench. In 2023, his put-back shot at the buzzer of Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat saved the Celtics from elimination and made his folk hero status grow.

With the departure of Marcus Smart, White took over as the primary point guard, and he has started 143 of 155 games over the last two seasons. In 2022-23, he was the only Celtic to play in all 82 games during the regular season.

He. started all 19 games during the 2024 NBA Championship run, averaging 16.7 points, 4.1 assists and 4.3 rebounds while shooting .452 from the floor and .404 from three-point range.

He was the best shot-blocking guard in the NBA, averaging 1.2 blocks per game in both the regular season and the playoffs while also averaging 2.7 three-pointers made per game, good for 29th in the league. White was selected to the NBA All-Defensive Team each of the last two seasons.

It looks like White's new deal, as well as an expected $300 million-plus contract that the Celtics will give to Jayson Tatum, will be the responsibility of someone other than Boston Basketball Partners, LLC. The Celtics ownership group, led by Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca, announced on Monday that they are putting up the majority stake in the team for sale by early next year.

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