No one on the Boston Celtics roster had to feel safe this offseason, except for maybe Jayson Tatum, given the team's financial situation.
Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens dealt away stars in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in an attempt to get under the second apron and those moves begged the question if another big-name player would get shown the door, too.
Derrick White even came up in trade rumors, with reports suggesting the Golden State Warriors wanted to acquire him. White remains with the Celtics at the moment, and it feels like it will stay that way given the franchise's affinity for the stellar guard.
White sure is thankful for that and he told NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg that despite being involved in trade rumors, it didn't leave a bad taste in his mouth.
"I think every summer is pretty crazy, especially nowadays," White told Forsberg, as transcribed by NBC Sports Boston's Justin Leger. "But I didn't feel too worried about anything. My agent and Brad had been talking and all the other rumors and stuff, I wasn't really too worried about.
"I mean, I feel like it's cool to be wanted by other teams, but I wanted to stay in Boston, and I was glad they wanted to keep me."
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White's ascension to stardom took off after he was traded from the San Antonio Spurs to the Celtics in the middle of the 2021-22 season. It took him a little time to get adjusted with the Celtics, but White became one of the top defensive guards in the NBA as evidenced by being named to the All-NBA Defensive Second Team twice.
White coupled his defensive prowess with steady offensive contributions buoyed by a strong outside shot. White has knocked down 38.9% of his 3-pointers over the last two seasons.
The Celtics will lean on White even more next season with Porzingis and Holiday no longer around and Tatum sidelined due to a ruptured Achilles. But throughout his tenure with the Celtics, White has shown he's able to rise to the occasion.
"It's always tough to see guys leave, especially people that you won a championship with and had so many great battles with," White said. "Obviously, seeing KP and Jrue get traded, it was tough to see. And then Luke (Kornet) signs somewhere else.
"Having a different team and having those guys leave is kind of difficult, but it's part of the business and I'm confident the guys that we have coming in and the guys that we still have returning. So it's gonna be a lot of fun, and it's gonna be a different challenge, but I think that's just the great thing about basketball."
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