Derrick White and the Celtics have until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to reach an agreement on a contract extension or have to wait until after the season is over. But the guard doesn’t seem worried about it one way or the other.
“I love it here. It’s been great here being a Celtic,” White said. “That will never change whether I sign before the season or not. If it happens, great. If not, I’m still excited for the season to be here.”
White has two years remaining on the four-year, $70 million extension he signed with the Spurs in 2020. He’s due to earn $18.4 million this season and then $19.6 million in 2024-25. Under the new rules of the collective bargaining agreement, White can extend for three years at 140% of his 2024-25 salary, so a deal would look like something around three years, $85 million that would begin in 2025-26.
White could certainly command more money by building off his breakout 2022-23 season and having another big year in 2023-24. But the Celtics have already made two big commitments this summer with the extensions of Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, and they’ll almost certainly be offering Jayson Tatum a supermax extension when he’s eligible next summer. The team is also reportedly interested in extending Jrue Holiday, who’s eligible for one in February.
Payton Pritchard, after he signed his contract extension recently, said he completely stayed out of negotiations and let his agent handle everything. But White said he’s at least somewhat stayed engaged.
“Obviously talk to my agent and my agent talks to me,” White said. “I’m involved a little bit. Probably somewhere in the middle between Payton and maybe like, I don’t know, someone that’s really involved.”
No matter if White signs an extension in the next week or not, his value as a reliable two-way player and proven all-league defender is clear, even if he’s still being overlooked.
ESPN released its annual Top 100 player rankings last week – compiled by a panel of nearly 150 reporters, editors, producers and analysts – and somehow, laughably, White was left off the list. Other guards who have recently been less impactful, like Russell Westbrook and Mike Conley, made the list over White. Even former teammate Grant Williams made the cut.
White wasn’t fazed by the snub.
“Was I surprised? I mean, that’s just kind of how my life has always been, so not really surprised,” White said. “It is what it is. I don’t really focus too much on it.”
White has clear respect around the league, which has been apparent in light of that exclusion. J.J. Redick, who works for ESPN, ripped White’s snub from the list on a recent episode of his podcast. Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell said after his team’s preseason game on Sunday that White is serving as an inspiration for his play this season, noting that the Celtics guard doesn’t get the credit he deserves for all the winning plays he makes. White saw that when he woke up Monday morning.
“That was cool. I was kind of shocked,” White said. “I woke up and my boy sent me the D’Angelo Russell quote. But I mean especially from someone that’s done so much, an All-Star in this league, it was cool to hear. J.J., that’s my man. Shoutout to him. I don’t really focus on Top 100 or whatnot, but it’s cool to have that recognition from great players.”
A welcome wrinkle
The Celtics have had an unusual preseason schedule. They began their five-game slate by playing three games in four days. Then they had five days off before their last two games on Tuesday against the Knicks and then the finale on Thursday against the Hornets. Then, they’ll have another five-day layoff before next Wednesday’s season opener at the Knicks.
While the schedule is certainly atypical, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla doesn’t mind it. It’s allowed his team to get in some extra practice time, which is especially valuable with several additions to the roster.
“It’s been fun. I enjoy it, actually,” Mazzulla said. “Because I think for a long time training camp ends the first game of the preseason, whereas like training camp for us, we wanted to cover the whole month. So using the entire month to simulate different situations during the season, and then work on different stuff. So I feel like by the end of our training camp we’ll have gone through small pockets of the season, which will help us.”
Tip-ins
Mazzulla chose to start White, Holiday, Tatum, Brown and Porzingis for Tuesday’s preseason game, leaving Al Horford to come off the bench. …
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau worked as an assistant under Jeff Van Gundy for several years during his head-coaching stints with the Knicks and then the Rockets, so he knows firsthand the Celtics’ hiring of Van Gundy as a senior consultant to their basketball operations will be beneficial to the franchise.
“I think in a lot of ways,” Thibodeau said. “He has a lot of experience in the league. He can look at it from a different lens, broader perspective. I think he’s a good asset to have for the staff. He’s a great asset to have for the front office and whichever way they want to use him, he’ll add a lot to it.” …
Romeo Langford, who the Celtics drafted in the first round in 2019 before trading him to the Spurs in the deal for White, was waived by the Jazz on Tuesday.
