The Boston Celtics have had an amazing season this year, especially with the absence of Jayson Tatum until just recently. Players like Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Derrick White all stepped up, and may win awards because of it.
In fact, White may win his first piece of major hardware if the stars align. FanSided’s Christopher Kline believes that if superstar Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs becomes ineligible due to not making the minimum number of games played, White could be a sneaky contender for the award.
“Credit to Neemias Queta, Jaylen Brown and others, but there is simply no way the Celtics roster, as it’s currently constructed, should own the NBA’s seventh-best defense. Derrick White deserves the bulk of the praise, averaging 1.2 steals and 1.5 blocks (as a guard…). The man is everywhere, always tracking sight lines and pouncing on mistakes. He’s strong enough to handle bigger wings and nimble enough to choke ball-handlers at the point of attack. He flies in from the weak side to punish unaware slashers. There is not a more impressive player to watch on defense, with the exception of Wemby and Chet [Holmgren],” Kline wrote.
So far this season, White is averaging 17.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 1.2 steals, and 1.4 blocks in 34 minutes per game. White is the best shot-blocking guard in the NBA, and he hounds all five positions on defense.
What makes this even more amusing is if White wins the award, which usually goes to big men, he would be the third guard to win it since Gary Payton in 1996, and a former Boston Celtic in Marcus Smart in 2023.
Hopefully, everything goes right for White, and he continues to dominate on D so he can bring home an award he truly deserves.
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