Derrick White

Over the 2024-25 season, White delivered career highs in points (16.4), made threes (3.5) and rebounds (4.5) per game, while also delivering 4.8 dimes per contest. And yet, White could be headed for an even more impressive season in 2025-26 due to the absence of Jayson Tatum (Achilles), Jrue Holiday (trade) and Kristaps Porzingis (trade). That's 43.2 field goal attempts per game out the door, with only new Celtic Anfernee Simons (16.1 FGA's with Portland) added to fill the void. White should exceed last season's meager 12.6 shots per game by a wide margin. Boston is now a two-star team, with White and Jaylen Brown expected to carry a heavy burden. That said, don't expect White to exceed last year's 33.9 minutes per game, also a career high. It will be very interesting to see how Coach Joe Mazzulla decides to distribute backcourt minutes amongst tweener guards White, Simons and Pritchard. There should be plenty for everyone. The only negative concern for White was his slight dip in free-throw percentage, which declined from "elite" (90.1 percent in 2023-24) to "pretty good" (83.9% in 2024-25). For 2025-26, expect offensive improvement across the board, yet again, for White as he steps into a much-deserved leadership role.