Through the first five games of the Boston Celtics’ regular season, Derrick White has been rough. He can’t find his stroke from beyond the arc, and he doesn’t look completely adjusted to the increased pressure he’s facing with Jayson Tatum sidelined and Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet gone. And that’s completely normal.
However, the Celtics need White’s shooting back. They need him to be the player they know he’s capable of being. Despite his poor shooting, White is still getting decent looks. They just aren’t falling. Will White be able to help water find its level from beyond the three-point arc?
Well, based on the past, the answer is a resounding yes. And his inefficiency this season isn't nearly as catastophic as it looks.
Derrick White is still getting good looks, he's just in a slump right now
Through five games, the Celtics have the seventh-best offensive rating (118.2) in the NBA, in spite of White’s struggles on that end of the court. That’s an impressive feat, considering how crucial he is to their success.
That said, the likelihood that they can keep that number up without White returning to form seems very slim. If the Celtics want to be a great offense, they need White.
Payton Pritchard’s three-point struggles have been just as palpable, but he’s looked a bit more comfortable working through the extra pressure being thrown his way, getting to his spots inside the arc and dishing out a ton of assists. White hasn’t done that quite as much.
In five games, White has averaged 17.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists while shooting just 31.1% from the floor and 25.0% from deep on a league-high 11.2 three-point attempts per contest. But those numbers aren’t a clear indication of his shot quality.
Of the 56 three-point jumpers White has taken this season, 46 have been either open or wide open, according to NBA.com. That means the defender has been either 4-6 feet away (open, 25 attempts) or six or more feet away (wide-open, 21 attempts).
White has shot 12-of-46 (26.1%) on those jumpers.
For context, White shot 239-of-627 (38.1%) on those shots last season.
White is a much better shooter than he has shown this season. He’s proven that much throughout the course of the past few seasons in Boston. The Celtics should have the utmost confidence in him turning things around from beyond the arc.
But if they want their offense to stay toward the top of the league, they need him to do it sooner rather than later.