Derrick White Panic Meter
All year long I brushed off Derrick whites shooting woes. Told myself he’ll be fine when he’s back in the #3 role when Tatum comes back, told myself he’ll be fine in the playoffs.
He shot 39⁄30 splits on the season, and shot 30% from three after tatums return. It’s obviously a small sample size, but he is 4⁄17 this playoffs (23.5%).
Derrick white is the key to Celtics success. He was an absolutely elite shooter the past two years, and was the king of massive threes whenever the Celtics absolutely needed it the most. He bailed the team out constantly with huge fourth quarter threes, and I’m not sure how far they can go if he’s gonna be a below average shooter.
Not to mention his on ball defense has been horrific going back to last playoffs. He was getting absolutely torched by Brunson all series, and maxey was frying him tonight. Usually he makes up for it by being one of the greatest shot blocking guards in nba history while being a 40% three point shooter.
I will never lose faith in him though and his 2023-2025 level of play was so good I would retire his number if it were up to me