The 2025-26 season had a lot of surprises for Boston Celtics fans. Jaylen Brown’s ascension to a top-10 player over the regular season. Neemias Queta’s explosive growth into a serviceable starting center. The Stay Ready crew’s energy and impact. Sadly, a disappointing first-round playoff exit.
However, one of the biggest surprises was the disappearance of Derrick White’s shot. White may have started his career in San Antonio with a shaky shot, but he developed into a certified sniper in 2022-23 —
his first full season with the Celtics — and shot at least 38.1% from three-point range over the three seasons preceding 2025-26.
So, what went wrong this season? And what might it mean for his future with the team?
Examining White’s shooting over the 2025-26 season
There was no gradual buildup to White’s shooting struggles: it was evident right out of the gate. The 31-year-old started the season with a string of inauspicious “tour date” shooting performances, kicked off with 7/20 shooting from the field in the Celtics’ opening night loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
He shot only 4/13, or 30.8%, from three-point range on opening night, but that proved to be his most efficient showing over the first seven games of the season. Over those seven games, White hit only 30.8% of his shots from the field and 25% of his three-point attempts while jacking up almost 17 field goal attempts per game.
In lieu of Jayson Tatum, the Celtics resorted to using White as a second option on offense, as he finished behind only Jaylen Brown in shot attempts per game. While he put up 12.6 field goal attempts per game the year before, he shot 16.2 per game over the first 38 games of the 2025-26 season — a nearly 30% increase.
Despite a handful of explosive performances, like a 33-point showing on 55% shooting from the field and 64.3% shooting from three-point range against the Miami Heat last December, White clearly struggled early on with his newly expanded role on offense.
Nevertheless, he seemed to build some momentum toward the end of 2025. White’s three-point shooting efficiency improved from 25.4% on 10.5 attempts per game in October to 35.7% on 7.5 attempts in November, then to 38.2% in December on 10.9 attempts per game.
That momentum collapsed in January, when he shot only 37.3% from the field and 25.9% from three-point range, but things evened out a little in February, when he shot 39.5% from the field and 35.1% from three-point range.
By the time Tatum returned in March, White was shooting 39.2% from the field on 15.2 attempts per game and 33% on 8.8 three-point attempts per game — both well below his career averages.
Many pundits (including me) expected Tatum’s return to benefit White by lessening his offensive load and allowing him to be used in a more off-ball role. While his volume drastically decreased with Tatum back on the court — he attempted only 11.4 field goals and 6.5 three-pointers per game following Tatum’s return on March 6 — his efficiency did not improve. In fact, from three-point range, it only got worse: White hit only 30.9% of his three-pointers over his last 17 games with Tatum back in the lineup.
Volume-wise, it was a career year for White. He averaged a career-high 16.5 points on 14.4 shot attempts per game, 4.4 rebounds (the second-highest mark of his career) and 5.4 assists — another career high. He also averaged career highs in steals per game (1.1) and blocks per game (1.3).
However, it may have been White’s single-worst season in terms of shooting efficiency. He shot 39.4% from the field (the worst mark of his career) and 32.7% on 8.3 three-point attempts per game (his second-worst three-point shooting season of his career). His 48.9% effective field goal and 52.9% true shooting percentages were also career-worsts.
His expanded offensive role through February played into that inefficiency, as he was only assisted on 71.8% of his three-point makes over the course of the season, and only 11.4% of his three-point attempts were from the corner — both being the lowest marks of his Celtics tenure and the second-lowest marks of his career in their respective categories.
White’s shooting struggles got even worse in the playoffs, where he shot 32.1% from the field on 11.6 shot attempts per game and 27.3% on 7.9 three-point attempts. His lack of success seemed to impact his confidence, too, as he hesitated on a handful of open shots and passed out of multiple scoring opportunities, even when the Celtics were desperate for a basket. He did not score more than 11 points until he broke out in Game 7 (interestingly enough with Tatum sitting out with an injury) but, by then, it was too late.
Is White’s future in Boston at risk?
Despite White’s huge contributions to the 2023-24 championship run and the team’s overall success in recent years, he could be on the chopping block if Brad Stevens is looking to make waves this offseason.
His defense remains elite — it seems like he only gets better and better at racking up stocks at the years go by — but it is unclear if the soon-to-be 32-year-old can regain the shooting efficiency that made him one of the best role players in the game.
A consistent, smaller role than the one he was pushed into for 2025-26 may help since White has historically been at his best as a tertiary option behind the Jays. He did struggle to hit shots while playing alongside Tatum this year, but that may be due to his fluctuating role on offense as he was asked to step up as a creator in the early season, then got lost in the mix upon JT’s return.
If White is unable to return to form, he might not fit in if the team continues to be built around the Jays and a three-point-heavy offense moving forward. Neither of the Jays are elite shooters in terms of efficiency from deep, but their gravity can create open opportunities for others, so they need to be surrounded by above-average shooters who can capitalize on those open looks in order for Joe Mazzulla’s offense to churn at a high gear.
Other factors to consider regarding White’s future in Boston are his salary, age, and redundancy with the team’s up-and-comers.
White will be 32 by the time the 2026-27 season begins, with two years of more than $30 million in guaranteed salary and a $34,844,000 player option for 2028-29. Stevens got the C’s under the luxury tax this year, but that price tag is difficult to maintain next to the Jays’ two supermax deals. Following the 2026-27 season, the contracts of Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza and Amari Williams will expire, so it could prove to be quite a task to retain them while keeping White and the Jays.
Additionally, White has earned his reputation as an elite role player so, in combination with his sizable contract, he could be used as an asset in potential trade deals. That’s also where his redundancy with others on the team could come into play, since Boston has Payton Pritchard on a bargain contract and a small collection of young, exciting wings on rookie deals, like Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh and Hugo Gonzalez.
If Stevens is serious about upgrading the Celtics’ impact at the rim, he may see White and his contract as more expendable than Pritchard or the team’s stable of young wings.
White has become a fan favorite in Boston for his defensive impact, willingness to lose teeth to win games, and his magical buzzer-beating shot in Miami to send the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals to Game 7, but he could end up a trade casualty regardless — especially if he can’t get his shot back early next season.
