Ramp to Camp: What version of Derrick White will Celtics get this season?

Ramp to Camp: What version of Derrick White will Celtics get this season? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Let’s state the obvious: Derrick White had a miserable shooting season last year. In fact, pick the meanest adjective you can think of, replace our word miserable, and it probably fairly describes White’s season-long shooting woes.

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But lost in those shooting struggles — with White connecting on a grisly 32.7 percent of 8.3 3-pointers per game, and shooting a meager 39.4 percent from the floor overall — was that White still was an advanced metrics darling, finishing among the league’s elite in net rating despite his misfires. His defense remained top tier and he routinely impacted winning during his court time.

The shots just would not fall.

For Day 3 of our Ramp to Camp series, we asked our panel: What version of Derrick White will the Celtics get this season?

We suspect you’ll hear a lot of prognosticators talking about a potential “bounce-back year” for White. The reality is that it’s simply his shot that needs to rebound. White put up All-Star-caliber production in basically every other facet of the game. But, thrust into an elevated offensive role while Jayson Tatum rehabbed, it was hard to ignore the shooting splits.

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White still finished third on the team in net rating with Boston outscoring opponents by 11.3 points per 100 possessions during his floor time. Among all NBA players that averaged at least 30 minutes per game last season, White ranked fourth in net rating, one spot ahead of Denver MVP candidate Nikola Jokic. The only three players ahead of him were the actual MVP in Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (plus-16.3), Detroit’s Cade Cunningham (plus-11.4), and San Antonio’s Devin Vassell (plus-11.4).

White, despite his shooting woes, ranked in the 95th percentile at his position while generating 29.6 points per game off scoring and assists. He averaged a career-best 1.3 blocks per game, earned a spot on the All-Defense first team, and was sixth in voting for Defensive Player of the Year.

Go find your favorite advanced metric acronym (there’s a lot out there…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ramp-camp-version-derrick-white-140205384.html

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Publish date : 2026-09-10 14:02:00

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