Among the Boston Celtics’ starry starting five (and, heck, among their top six, really, if we count reserve big man Al Horford), only one player has never made an All-Star team: two-time All-Defensive combo guard Derrick White.
In a new piece, Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports opines that the 6-foot-4 vet deserves consideration to make his debut in that group this season.
“The broad strokes of this year’s case are similar,” Devine writes. “White remains the fourth-leading scorer on a fantastic Celtics team, albeit one that’s got the NBA’s third-best record and net rating, and is second in its conference. He’s scoring more and maintaining his elite shooting efficiency on a higher usage rate and sharply increased 3-point volume.”
This year, White is averaging 17.1 points on .452/.392/.822 shooting splits, 4.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.3 blocks (a shocking number for a guard) and 0.9 steals across 35 games for the 27-10 Celtics.
“White is one of 13 players in the league this season averaging 17 points, four rebounds and four assists per game with a true shooting percentage north of .600 — a list laden with MVP candidates, multi-time All-Stars, and guys who might be either if they weren’t trying to get themselves traded out of Miami I’m not naming any names),” Devine isn’t naming Jimmy Butler, so we will.
Say what you want about the six-time All-Star’s approach to demanding to be dealt away from the team he led to two NBA Finals appearances in four years, but the man remains a proven winner.
“And what he lacks in sheer amount of buckets generated, he makes up on the other end by being one of the best backcourt defenders in the NBA — great at slithering around screens and chasing movement shooters away from the ball, elite at shutting down transition scoring chances by himself, and the best shot-blocking guard since Dwyane Wade (if not ever),” Devine notes.
How many Boston players will achieve that honor this year?
Provided they both remain relatively healthy, All-NBA power forward Jayson Tatum and All-Star small forward Jaylen Brown look like shoo-ins to be named to their sixth and fourth All-Star squads, respectively. Brown also seems like a real candidate to land on just his second All-NBA club this season. Starting center Kristaps Porzingis has missed way too many games to make the cut, while his backup Horford is just no longer at that level. Holiday’s scoring has been fairly modest, but he’s such a beloved player beyond just the stats, and is clearly such an impactful winner, that he has an outside chance of making his third All-Star team ever. But White is clearly the player with the third-best shot at making the grade.
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