The Celtics offseason of uncertainty has begun after a stunning second round exit to the Knicks. Brad Stevens has a litany of decisions to make, facing a financial crunch while dealing with the aftermath of Jayson Tatum suffering a torn Achilles that will sideline him for at least the majority of the 2025-26 season.
Just how the Celtics plan to retool around Tatum for next season and beyond is an open question, but other NBA teams are anticipating Boston being active in the trade market. One team that will be focused with great urgency on the present will be an aging Golden State Warriors squad that dealt for Jimmy Butler last season.
In an conversation on the Zach Lowe Show, former Warriors beat reporter Logan Murdock of the Ringer says he believes that the Warriors are looking at Celtics starting guard Derrick White as a trade target for them this offseason.
“Another guy for the Warriors to look at going forward is Derrick White,” Murdock told Lowe. “I think that’s something the Warriors are looking at right now.
“That’s somebody who can play defense, can settle everyone down especially when you have a young group like that”
Lowe acknowledged that a trade of White would be one of the several items that the Celtics could be considering this offseason.
“I’ve talked about how depressing trading Derrick White would be for Boston and the sort of a dilemma they face in terms of how much of a reset do we really want to have and who we want to be back here when Tatum comes back?” Lowe said. “Who has trade value in the interim and where Derrick White fits in that conversation?”
White is coming off his best season in Boston during the 2024-25 season and is under contract for the next four years (including a player option after his extension kicks in this summer). He will make an average of $31 million annually over those four seasons, making him a relative bargain for his two-way play.
The Warriors, like any other playoff team, surely would love to deal for White. However, Golden State does not look like a team that has the necessary trade assets to even make Boston considering parting ways with the 30-year-old guard.
The movable parts of the Warriors’ roster simply shouldn’t have much value to a team like Boston. Brandin Podziemski is an intriguing young guard that’s just 22 but is sharp downgrade from White from a defensive standpoint. Moses Moody has shown promise also struggled to find a consistent role in his four years in Golden State and isn’t exactly cheap at $11 million per year. The Warriors do own all their first round pick from 2026-2029 but their odds of bottoming out at non existent as long as Stephen Curry is still active.
Would a package of Podziemski, Moody and first round trade capital be enough for the Celtics to move on from White? It’s hard to envision them making that type of move without getting more of a blue chip prospect or high upside draft capital. Unless Boston’s brass is very high on Podziemski, it’s hard to see any kind of potential deal here.
