Derrick White has remained a key catalyst to the Celtics’ longstanding title hopes.
CLEVELAND – To the casual observer, the developing story around the Boston Celtics is that they’ve suddenly become championship contenders again now that Jayson Tatum is back from an Achilles tear well ahead of schedule.
What played out on ABC on Sunday in Cleveland would do little to dissuade believers of that narrative. The Celtics dominated the Cavaliers, 109–98, and Tatum, in his second game back, finished with 20 points in 27 minutes, attacking the rim and hitting 3s as if he hadn’t been away from the game for months.
The win moved Boston to within two and a half games of slumping Detroit for first place in the Eastern Conference, in a season that was supposed to be something of a gap year after Tatum’s devastating injury last May and the offseason departures of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis.
But there’s a problem with that narrative.
Tatum has played just two games this season, which means Boston notched 41 of its first 43 wins without its biggest star.
The Celtics were already good.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said before Sunday’s game. “I think it surprises everybody else.”
Atkinson then furthered his point, making a claim that produced something of a record scratch in the press room.
“Derrick White is a top-five player in this league,” Atkinson said. “I know no one says that in the standard media, but analytically, if you look at all the advanced stuff, he’s a top-five player in the league. Superstar.”
On ESPN’s “Inside the NBA” pregame show, Charles Barkley had a quick response.
“The reason nobody says that, Kenny,” Barkley said, “is because it’s not true.”
Well, actually, Chuck, it’s pretty close.
According to dunksandthrees.com, a basketball analytics-tracking website, White ranks ninth in something called “estimated plus-minus,” which takes into account a number of advanced metrics to determine a player’s predicted impact on the court over 100 possessions.
Reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is first with a predicted impact on the Thunder of plus-9.3 points per 100 possessions when he is on the court. Nuggets star and three-time MVP Nikola Jokić is second (plus-8.8). But a few of the players ranked third through eighth in EPM haven’t played enough games to really be counted. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ty Jerome, who rank third and fifth, respectively, have already missed enough games to fall short of the 65-game metric to decide eligibility for season awards. So, if you remove them from the dunksandthrees.com analysis, White is seventh in the league. A second website, bball-index.com, keeps a similar set of data to measure a player’s on-court impact, and White is the seventh-best player on that site, and third in a measurement of wins over replacement.
Yet White isn’t discussed as an MVP candidate or a first-team All-NBA player. His teammate Jaylen Brown, who led Boston with 23 points, eight assists and nine rebounds against Cleveland, will likely receive MVP votes. Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokić remain the leading candidates for the award, with Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama and, perhaps, Luka Dončić of the Lakers in the conversation behind them.
Atkinson — and the advanced metrics — argue White’s impact belongs in that group.
“That’s crazy to really think about,” White told The Athletic Sunday when asked about Atkinson’s comments. “There’s so many great players in the league. But I think there’s more to basketball than just makes or misses or points. I’m just trying to help us win games.”
White, 31, has never made an All-Star team but has twice been selected to the NBA’s All-Defensive teams. He has also twice been selected for Team USA, first as a role player with the San Antonio Spurs at the 2019 World Cup, and again in 2024 when he replaced Kawhi Leonard (Leonard also ranks slightly above White analytically) on the Olympic roster that went to Paris — a selection that came even after Brown had just won NBA Finals MVP.
White’s appeal to coaches has always been his defensive versatility. At 6-foot-4 and 190 pounds, he guards well above his size and has developed into one of the best rim-protecting guards in the league. Along the way, he has also become a legitimate offensive threat. White is averaging career highs in points (17.2), assists (5.7), steals (1.2) and blocks (1.5) this season. In Sunday’s win, he contributed seven points on only 2-of-9 shooting but still added seven rebounds and five assists.
With Tatum back and the Celtics having decided a few weeks ago to return Payton Pritchard to the bench, White plays point guard in Boston’s starting lineup. Coach Joe Mazzulla called him a “connector.”
“His type of play is not commercialized,” Mazzulla said. “But one of the hardest things to do in the NBA is have complete confidence while also making everyone around you better. He does both.”
For what it’s worth, Atkinson also pointed out that Boston center Neemias Queta, another Celtic that casual fans don’t know much about, is a high-ranking player (he’s 29th in net rating in the NBA, according to NBA.com and likely higher when removing players who have missed too many games). Queta, who is getting his first big chance now with both Porziņģis and Al Horford gone, scored just four points but contributed 11 rebounds Sunday. Sam Hauser scored 15 points, all on 3s, Pritchard added 18 points off the bench, and Baylor Scheierman scored 16 points.
“The DNA is still the same,” White said. “It might look a little different, but who we are as a core is the same.”
That DNA showed again Sunday.
The Celtics swept Cleveland, 3-0, this season. The Cavs had one of, if not the worst, quarters of their entire season on Sunday, going 0 of 14 from 3-point range and scoring just 10 points. They had a weird lull in the schedule with four days off since their previous game, and cut the deficit under 10 points in a competitive fourth quarter. They were not, in other words, allowing the outcome of this particular tilt with Boston to cause any new concerns over a potential playoff matchup with the Celtics.
The Celtics didn’t suddenly become contenders again because Tatum returned.
They already were.
And Derrick White is one of the biggest reasons why.
“I think it’s probably proven in various places that he is that player,” Atkinson said. “And that’s how we treat him. He really disrupts you defensively. He’s an elite rim protector. People don’t really like that. Probably the best guard rim protector in the league. Just take all those things and put it in there, and with the shooting, you’ve got a great player.”
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Joe Vardon is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic, based in Cleveland. Follow Joe on Twitter @joevardon
