Derrick White a Dark Horse Candidate for NBA's Most Improved Player

The San Antonio Spurs have completely revamped their roster for the 2021-22 season, and it leaves a unique opportunity for players to step up into bigger roles. 

One of those players is fifth-year guard Derrick White, who put up career numbers during the 2020-21 season despite dealing with a toe injury for most of the season. 

With DeMar DeRozan now in Chicago, White has the opportunity to step in as the Spurs No. 1 option on offense after averaging a career-high 15.4 points per game last season. WynnBET has released odds for the NBA’s Most Improved Player next season, and I think White, at +2500 odds, is an absolute steal. 

The 29th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, White has quietly turned himself into a rising star in the Spurs’ system. He broke out during the 2018-19 season, averaging 9.9 points per game while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and has been a mainstay in the rotation ever since. 

The Spurs didn't bring in enough scoring to replace DeMar’s 21.6 points per game from last season, so I think the burden will fall on White and Dejounte Murray to pick up the slack scoring the basketball. 

While Murray finished last season averaging more points per game than White (15.7), he did it on 14.5 shots per game compared to White’s 12.6. White was more efficient than Murray from beyond the arc last season, and his free-throw rate (25.2 percent) is much higher than Murray’s (13.8 percent) which shows that his attacking play style can help lead to easy scoring opportunities. 

 However, White’s impact and ability to win Most Improved Player goes beyond scoring. Last season, the Spurs were plus-4.9 points per 100 possessions when White was on the floor (best on the team) and only Rudy Gay and Jakob Poetl had better on-off numbers than White last season.

San Antonio was 18-18 with White last season and just 15-21 without him, and I think he can step into a role where he and Murray are the driving forces in the Spurs’ offense next season.

Similar to last year’s winner, Julius Randle, White could help a team that will have low expectations heading into the 2021-22 season overachieve and potentially fight for a playoff spot. 

The Most Improved Player certainly matters in terms of stats, but if White shows once again that he is arguably the Spurs most impactful player while also seeing a jump in his numbers, it’s going to be hard to take him out of consideration for the award.

Who's your pick to win the NBA's Most Improved Player?

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