Is Derrick White deserving of All-Star consideration for the Celtics?

The Celtics guard is putting up impressive numbers.

The purpose of this article was to highlight how good Derrick White has been for the Boston Celtics as the season began in 2023-24. But that is far too obvious. So here’s our hot take: Derrick White deserves to be an All-Star, and here’s why.

On the surface, that doesn’t seem like a very toasty take. There’s a case to be made that, aside from Jayson Tatum, White has been the Celtics’ second-most impactful player. His stat line may not stand out as much as some of his teammates’, but White is a big reason why those players are thriving as well.

The problem arises when you begin to calculate how many players Boston might be able to bring to Indianapolis in February. More on that in a moment. For the time being, here are four numbers that would top our pitch for White’s All-Star case (all ranks begin action on Wednesday).

+13.5

White has the team’s highest net rating, with the Celtics outscoring opponents by 13.5 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court.

What’s more, Boston’s net rating drops to a team-worst +1.3 in the 446 minutes White isn’t on the court this season. Those are the kinds of on/off numbers that MVP candidates like Tatum are known for.

White has the highest net rating among the 98 NBA players who play 30+ minutes per game. The four players directly behind him are as follows: Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Joel Embiid, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

That’s four rungs on a very attainable MVP ladder. Perhaps our hot take should have been that Derrick White deserves to be considered for MVP.

White simply makes his team better when he’s on the court, continuing a career-long trend. In White’s 19 games this season, the Celtics have outscored their opponents by a total of 178 points. And he doesn’t even have to be the best on the ball to be great.

White ranks 137th in usage rate among the 225 players who log more than 20 minutes per night.

This season, White’s true shooting percentage is 65.6.

White has career highs in field goal percentage (48.2) and 3-point percentage (42.5). If we look at the same group of players who play more than 30 minutes per game, White is tied for third in the NBA in true shooting percentage. Tyrese Haliburton and Steph Curry are the only players in front of him. That’s respectable company.

White has quietly developed into a devastating shooter. With the exception of Sam Hauser, you feel confident that every shot he takes will go in. White isn’t hesitating with catch-and-shoot opportunities, which makes Boston even more dangerous when he’s shooting over 40% on those attempts.

White’s stock average (steals + blocks per game) is 2.1. It’s the team’s second-best mark, trailing only Kristaps Porzingis (2.4 stocks per game).

White is ranked 34th in the NBA overall, but he would be in the top five among all guards in total stocks if he hadn’t missed three games earlier this season.

Richard White, White’s father, was the one who dubbed Boston’s defensive-minded backcourt the “Stock Exchange.” However, it may be time to just make it a team nickname. This season, Boston’s top six players — Tatum, Brown, White, Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford — are all ranked in the top 100 for stocks.

The Boston Stock Exchange is humming (or, as the kids say, bussin’).

12.6

That is the number of assist points generated by White per game. It ranks second on the Celtics only to Holiday (14.4). White leads the team in assists with 7.7 potential assists per game (only Holiday and Tatum have more).

With his shooting ability, White is more than capable of running the offense. He could tighten up his turnover rate a little, but that’s nitpicking in a bigger role.

Over the summer, head coach Joe Mazzulla confidently declared that White would be Boston’s starting point guard, but then the Celtics traded for Holiday. The team is still willing to let White play quarterback at times, in part because he always seems to make the right decision.

Now, back to the whole All-Star thing. The All-Star voting period begins next week, and the Celtics are so good that they may struggle to get multiple players to Indianapolis.

If that sounds contradictory, it’s because it is. The Eastern Conference is loaded with individual talent, and despite having the best record in the league, the Celtics risk splitting the vote for a potential second (or third?) star.

Tatum can make his February travel plans with confidence, we know. He should make it to Indy thanks to fan voting. Should he, however, book a companion ticket? That’s when things get difficult.

Finally, the Celtics may be at the mercy of how the East coaches (or the assistants who receive their ballots) vote for the East’s seven reserves. Will the coaches choose two-time All-Star Jaylen Brown? Will they recognize Porzingis’ impact since his arrival in Boston? Could they vote for White while acknowledging that his worth extends beyond the nightly box score?

The fear for Boston is splitting that vote and seeing a player from a less successful team sneak into the February exhibition because that team didn’t have any other options.

At least ten players in the East appear to be slam dunks to us, whether based on performance or reputation. Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard would be on the list, as would Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, Indiana’s Haliburton, New York’s Jalen Brunson, Miami’s Jimmy Butler, Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell, and Atlanta’s Trae Young. Paolo Banchero also gets our vote because the soaring Magic desperately need a representative.

That’s nearly a full roster, and six teams in the East don’t even get a player invite. You could argue that Brown, Porzingis, and Brown all deserve a higher ranking than some of the other players on the list, particularly those from teams still in play-in contention, but fan voting could further complicate matters, with a proclivity to reward familiar names regardless of their overall merits.

The good news is that we have over a month to discuss this issue. Health, along with team performance, could have a significant impact on how coaches vote in the end.

Perhaps Brown will dominate the next two weeks, making it easier to pick Boston’s second star. But, if you forced us to vote right now for someone to replace Tatum, we could make a strong case for White.

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