Many looked forward to seeing if Derrick White would return to form as an elite three-point shooter. Last season with the Boston Celtics, White's three-point shooting fell off a cliff, dropping from 38.4% to 32.7%. The explanation seemed simple enough: no Jayson Tatum changed the formula.
Now Tatum is back like he never left, so that should mean White's three-point shooting is better now that he's paired with one of the NBA's best scorers again. Nope. In fact, it's only gotten worse to start the season.
White isn't as high on the Celtics' offensive pecking order as he was forced to be last season, but even so, his three-point percentage has only declined further. Eight games into the season, he's shooting 29.3% from three, although his shooting overall from the field has improved, going from 39.4% to 42.5%.
It's not like Boston depends primarily on White's three-point shooting to win games, but if he can just return to form, it would make them more dangerous. Opponents still respect White as a floor spacer even if he's not making them pay.
Because opponents have to respect Tatum and the resilient Paul George, White gets more wide-open shots. If the elite three-point shooting we saw from 2022 to 2025 returns, Boston becomes even more dangerous. Because the season is still in its infant stages, all White needs is time.
It's not like it's been a problem
It is annoying that White isn't hitting threes at the rate he used to, but the Celtics are still 6-2 on the season. When the team is winning games, it's hard to complain. Despite White's struggles from distance (which also extends to the team as a whole), the Celtics still have a top-10 offensive rating in the league, with a plus-3.6 offensive rating that ranks them at No. 8.
In White's case, the Celtics' offense is still better with him on the floor than without him. Their offensive rating is a plus-5.6 with him on the floor, indicating that if and when he starts hitting his threes, it should go up even higher.
It perfectly encapsulates why it is so annoying that White isn't hitting his threes, but it's not something that is necessarily holding Boston back as a team. In fact, if he can return to form, it helps Boston go from really good to unstoppable.
Last night, Boston went up against Milwaukee without Jayson Tatum, and they narrowly avoided blowing a 22-point lead in part because of White's efforts in the clutch. That shows how useful White can be. If he can just bring that three-pointer back, they may hardly ever be in situations like they were last night.
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