Should the Boston Celtics act quickly to extend Derrick White’s contract before the season begins and the deadline passes?
“I enjoy being in Boston. “It’d be cool to get an extension,” Derrick White told Malika Andrews on ESPN’s NBA Today in August.
The former Colorado Buffalo is under contract with the Boston Celtics for $17.6 million in 2023-24 and $18.8 million in 2024-25. The two parties have until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 23 to continue their collaboration.
White had his greatest season yet, averaging 12.4 points, 3.9 assists, 3.6 rebounds, and nearly a steal and a block per game. He also had only 1.2 turnovers a game and made 38.1 percent of his 4.8 three-point attempts. He was also named to the NBA’s All-Defensive Second Team.
While the Celtics intended for him to take over for Marcus Smart at point guard, he’ll now share the job with Jrue Holiday, giving Boston the league’s finest defensive backcourt.
Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday (4) shoots during the first half against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden.
Holiday’s on a $36.8 million contract, carrying a $37.4 million player option for next season, and has to wait six months before signing an extension.
Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe told CLNS Media Celtics Beat hosts Adam Kaufman and Evan Valenti, “It seems, talking to people on both sides, that it’s very much the plan,” adding, “This isn’t a Jrue Holiday rental.”
But when it comes to the other half of this duo, Himmelsbach reports, “Talks are ongoing, but nothing appears to be on the immediate horizon. Both sides have an October 23 deadline to reach an agreement on extending White’s deal.”
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White (9) shoots against the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Celtics have already extended Kristaps Porzingis for two years, $60 million. Holiday figures to be with the team for multiple seasons. They signed Jaylen Brown to what, for a brief period, will be the most lucrative contract in NBA history this summer, what projects to be a five-year, $304 million veteran supermax extension that could increase in value depending on where next season’s league salary cap settles, and will ink Jayson Tatum to an even more sizeable supermax extension, a five-year contract worth a projected $338 million.
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