Derrick White, most underrated player in the NBA?

[RodyTur10]

The Celtics currently have the best record, but not enough is talked about their second most important player: Derrick White.

Derrick White is 14th in EPM, 19th in EW, 17th in BPM, 16th in WS, 20th in VORP and 4th in +/- in the league!
By all accounts White should be an All Star based on his performances.

White is an amazingly allround basketball player. He's good with on-ball and off-ball defense. He's a good passer, good driver and a good shooter. And all of this combined with a high BBIQ. There's no weakness in his game. Rare.

sources: https://dunksandthrees.com/epm and https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2024_advanced.html

[Waynearchetype]

Why isn't he talked about more?
He's scoring 15 points. Getting 5 assist, and 3 boards.

He should be an allstar? Give me a break. Every season some lower usage player tops out a bunch of advanced statistic categories, especially on good teams.

Put Boban Marjanovic in the HOF then maybe we'll talk about Derrick White.

[bisme37]

Why isn't he talked about more?
He's scoring 15 points. Getting 5 assist, and 3 boards.

He should be an allstar? Give me a break. Every season some lower usage player tops out a bunch of advanced statistic categories, especially on good teams.

Put Boban Marjanovic in the HOF then maybe we'll talk about Derrick White.

You should watch him play sometime. He's dope. Box stats aside you can make an argument he's been the 2nd best player for the team with the best record (at least as far as the consistency of his play) . And he's actually the only Celtics starter whose counting stats have gone up this year. And he just makes the rights play every time on both ends and makes the Celtics a whole lot better.

[PierceFan4ever]

Amazing player. Obviously he’s not a superstar but he has all star level impact out there. Box score ain’t everything

[Waynearchetype]

He is dope, I agree. He aint an all-star though. All of the stats listed in the OP are directly correlated with wins and not individual performance. A rising tide lifts all boats.

I like him, don't get me wrong. But this is very Kyle Korver making the all-star team energy.

[Dick Tate]

Celtics fan on GB: “Please pay more attention to our players.”

[KamikazeK]

White > Dame

[Bornstellar]

I said back in 2019/2020 that White was probably the Spurs best/most impactful player and a lot of people scoffed the notion. Glad that he is in a situation now where everyone can see what Spurs fans saw

[Castle Black]

D-White’s been underrated his entire career. Amazing defender (statistically the best on-ball defender in the league as well as the best shot-blocking Guard in the league) and the perfect glue-guy, on top of the fact that he’s a team-first player with a great attitude. He just plays winning basketball.

But, he’s become a more efficient scorer for the C’s this season too, as well as a better all-around playmaker. He’s officially in his prime.

I miss him terribly on the Spurs. Would love to have him back beside Wemby.

[Potential]

He's an all star and I definitely have him top 20 in mvp voting

[RodyTur10]

He is dope, I agree. He aint an all-star though. All of the stats listed in the OP are directly correlated with wins and not individual performance. A rising tide lifts all boats.

I like him, don't get me wrong. But this is very Kyle Korver making the all-star team energy.

Well obviously I disagree. White is not largely a product of a winning team. It's vice versa, the team winning is a product of a large part by White. Sure Brown averages 22 p/g and has that status, but a guy like White does so much more on the court besides scoring the basketball. If that's basically the only criterium for being an All Star, then sure you discount White.

But if it's about impacting the game and contribute to winning you can't ignore White any longer. And it's not a huge anomaly, since White has been high on all of these advanced stats for years.

Another interesting statistic. On a deep team full of "stars" like the Celtics unquestionably have, here are the on-off-numbers per 100 possessions (minimum 200 minutes played). Remember that White is a starter just like the rest of the guys, he's not doing this as a 6th man against some bench units.

Derrick White +13.2
Jrue Holiday +5.1
Jayson Tatum +4.3
Payton Pritchard +2.6
Al Horford +0.0
Kristaps Porzingis -0.5
Jaylen Brown -3.6
Sam Hauser -3.8
Luke Kornet -7.8

[Johnny Bball]

Yep, that's exactly why they traded for Jrue. To underrate White and confuse people.

[AussieCeltic]

Celtics fan on GB: “Please pay more attention to our players.”

You’re completely right. We should totally have more ‘Embiid vs Jokic’ or ‘Maxey is better than Tatum’ threads.

The only Celtic threads that come up on the GB are negative. We’ve got the best record in the league right now and Derrick White is playing incredible. Maybe pay attention and learn a thing or 2.

[BodieB]

On many nights he looks like their 2nd best player.

[PierceFan4ever]

Celtics fan on GB: “Please pay more attention to our players.”

Celtics fans barely make threads on the general board about their team…hilarious coming from a bucks fan though.

[Texas Chuck]

Fan celebrates player on team.
Fan uses a bit of hyperbole
Board rushes to condemn
Fanbase rushes to defend.
Rinse/Repeat

Just let the OP be excited about his guy. Good team, good player, this is supposed to be fun and positive, no? We don't have to crush all spirits because of a slight exaggeration. Calm down.

[Mavrelous]

Winning player

[RodyTur10]

Yep, that's exactly why they traded for Jrue. To underrate White and confuse people.

White is better than Holiday, without a doubt. If you watch the Celtics every game then you'd come to the same conclusion.

Holiday has really been good on defense, but not so much on offense. Could be adaption problems, but since he's 33 years also age can be a factor.

[Johnny Bball]

Yep, that's exactly why they traded for Jrue. To underrate White and confuse people.

White is better than Holiday, without a doubt. If you watch the Celtics every game then you'd come to the same conclusion.

Oh my. I really don't think I would.

[flranger]

I said back in 2019/2020 that White was probably the Spurs best/most impactful player and a lot of people scoffed the notion. Glad that he is in a situation now where everyone can see what Spurs fans saw

That's awesome. Good job!!