The Trade That Makes Too Much Sense / The Trade Everyone Hates: Derrick White to Houston

[gswhoops]

I think you are substantially overvaluing Eason here

I am not advocating anyone pay that price, that is simply what I would demand if someone wants to buy something that I don't want to sell.

He was off limits in the Durant deal, who is better than White, no reason to believe he would included here.

I mean that's not really what you said though. You said that you had White and Eason as comparable in value.

[brackdan70]

3 FRP for Eason is wild. This is a guy who's getting 24 mpg at age 24.

Yeah. He is a solid role player with an injury history and will be an RFA. I could see a single mid first as his top value and a couple seconds as low end.
I think he has a lot of upside so I can understand rockets and their fans wanting a lot for him, but it’s not going to happen.

[giberish]

There are two fundamental problems with this trade plan.

First is that Boston wants to compete in 2026-7. They need more than just Tatum to do that. FVV after a major injury could just be a bad contract that year and the picks won't even have conveyed by then, but less be helping on-court (yes they could be re-gifted but it's much easier to just keep White in-house). I don't understand why people expect Boston to go into the 2026-7 season with Tatum and nothing.

Second is that if Eason was off-limits in the KD trade then he's unlikely to be available for a stop-gap guard move. Though this does seem a bit more possible as Houston realized that with KD/Smith/DFS (and Segun a bunch) (plus other options like Okogie and Thompson) they've got extra forwards and Eason isn't quite as key for them.

Though that brings up the other issue that with no extension Eason's trade value isn't THAT high - almost certainly not at the level Houston wants it wo be in a trade.

[LarsV8]

Perfect, then there should be no objections to pulling Eason out of the deal. Put in DFS and everyone is happy.

[Patsfan1081]

My thought process:

- The second best pick between PHX and BK in 27 is one of the best pick trade assets out there. Both teams are terrible with little hope of improvement next year. This could easily be a top 4 pick.
- My price tag for Eason would be 1 good first, or 3 mid firsts. The Bulls are undefeated in a weak conference. This tracks to a late 26 first, which is an absolute non starter. Would just replace with our own first rather than this.
- White has looked bad this year. He is on the wrong side of 30, and has a long contract, which is decent at last years production, but will likely get worse as White gets worse (due to age).
- I have Eason and White as comparable in value.
- FVV has dead money this year, but will still be a good player on a decent deal next year. We sent a handful of seconds for an "out for the year" Steven Adams, playing the long game, waited it out, and now have a highly impact center on a bargain deal. His defensive leadership at POA is outstanding.
- Rockets currently have the #1 offense in the league, while defense, a strength from last year, has fallen to 19th (14th/4th last year), so paying a premium for White is not a good use of assets, especially at this extraordinary price.
- If we are moving on from FVV, it needs to be a POA defender, as a floor general, no longer seems necessary.
- We shouldn't be over paying for any PG. Waiting out FVV and just developing Reed in the interim is still a viable path forward.

White is exactly the player the Rockets should be going after, especially with KD on the backend of his career. We just watched what adding that one piece could get you in Boston, Houston shouldn’t be waiting it out if they have the assets to get that last piece during KD’s final years. Let’s also not overreact to an eight game sample of poor outside shooting either. White just turned thirty one, is far off from age being an issue. Odd to complain about defense then not want to add one of the best defenders in the league, not to that’s def not a “extraordinary” price either. Phoenix still has talent, will prob have cap room next offseason and no reason to tank. And not coming to an agreement with Eason is a little concerning when you have other young players needing to be paid. VanVleet is also not someone you should rely on heavily going into net season.

[Patsfan1081]

Is White worth more on the trade market than Suggs?

Obviously with their age it depends what team is after them. For a team chasing a title I would assume White holds a decent amount more. Suggs was healthy what, one year of his rookie contract. That year he was a four and a half win share player. With White your’e getting almost double that, with his scoring being the difference.

[nate33]

Boston acquired Derrick White for one FRP plus a distant future FRP swap. Now that White is 4 years older and twice as expensive, they're demanding 3 FRP's for him.

FVV plus one good FRP for White is plenty. The added bonus for Boston is that they tank and boost the value of their own pick.

[ThatBoyNick]

3 FRP for Eason is wild. This is a guy who's getting 24 mpg at age 24.

Don’t look up how many minutes White was averaging at 25


I really like White, but some of the evaluations given who he is remind me a lot of peoples price tags for Rob Covington a while back.

I mean, sometimes it happens, guys like Bridges land a 5 pick deal, but it doesn’t seem like good business.

Eason is actually a uber productive young 2 way player, certainly has had injury issues, and is a RFA, but some people are overlooking his on court talent a bit I think.

[BK_2020]

3 FRP for Eason is wild. This is a guy who's getting 24 mpg at age 24.

Don’t look up how many minutes White was averaging at 25


I really like White, but some of the evaluations given who he is remind me a lot of peoples price tags for Rob Covington a while back.

I mean, sometimes it happens, guys like Bridges land a 5 pick deal, but it doesn’t seem like good business.

Eason is actually a uber productive young 2 way player, certainly has had injury issues, and is a RFA, but some people are overlooking his on court talent a bit I think.

If Eason can keep up the 57% shooting from the three, he might be worth 3 FRPs.

[brackdan70]

Boston acquired Derrick White for one FRP plus a distant future FRP swap. Now that White is 4 years older and twice as expensive, they're demanding 3 FRP's for him.

FVV plus one good FRP for White is plenty. The added bonus for Boston is that they tank and boost the value of their own pick.

What he was acquired for has no bearing on his value now.
White has been a top 40 player the last couple years. Still in his prime on a team friendly contract. That’s what his value is based on. An injured player and a pick probably isn’t enough. If we are talking a “best of” pick rather than 2nd best then it gets interesting.
Boston wants to compete in 2026-27 so trading away White makes very little sense. His contract and likely contribution level during that period (his early 30s really fit the Celtics needs perfectly.

[nate33]

Boston acquired Derrick White for one FRP plus a distant future FRP swap. Now that White is 4 years older and twice as expensive, they're demanding 3 FRP's for him.

FVV plus one good FRP for White is plenty. The added bonus for Boston is that they tank and boost the value of their own pick.

What he was acquired for has no bearing on his value now.
White has been a top 40 player the last couple years. Still in his prime on a team friendly contract. That’s what his value is based on. An injured player and a pick probably isn’t enough. If we are talking a “best of” pick rather than 2nd best then it gets interesting.
Boston wants to compete in 2026-27 so trading away White makes very little sense. His contract and likely contribution level during that period (his early 30s really fit the Celtics needs perfectly.

White didn't suddenly get better in Boston. He was real good in San Antonio too. I fail to see why his value should increase so much.

Your point about Boston wanting to compete in 2026-27 is totally valid. I understand completely if they don't want to trade White. I'm just saying a 31-year-old role player on a $32M a year contract isn't worth THAT much extra in pick capital, particularly when FVV is coming back in the deal. How much better than FVV is Derrick White? He is better, sure. But 3 FRP's better? I think not.

[brackdan70]

Boston acquired Derrick White for one FRP plus a distant future FRP swap. Now that White is 4 years older and twice as expensive, they're demanding 3 FRP's for him.

FVV plus one good FRP for White is plenty. The added bonus for Boston is that they tank and boost the value of their own pick.

What he was acquired for has no bearing on his value now.
White has been a top 40 player the last couple years. Still in his prime on a team friendly contract. That’s what his value is based on. An injured player and a pick probably isn’t enough. If we are talking a “best of” pick rather than 2nd best then it gets interesting.
Boston wants to compete in 2026-27 so trading away White makes very little sense. His contract and likely contribution level during that period (his early 30s really fit the Celtics needs perfectly.

White didn't suddenly get better in Boston. He was real good in San Antonio too. I fail to see why his value should increase so much.

Your point about Boston wanting to compete in 2026-27 is totally valid. I understand completely if they don't want to trade White. I'm just saying a 31-year-old role player on a $32M a year contract isn't worth THAT much extra in pick capital, particularly when FVV is coming back in the deal. How much better than FVV is Derrick White? He is better, sure. But 3 FRP's better? I think not.

If VanFleet wasn’t out for at least the season with a torn ACL then I would look at this a little differently. I think White will be a fair bit better than FVV for the next couple years at least.
As far as White, what has changed is a pretty significant improvement in shooting, minutes played, and sustained excellence. If you look at just per minute impact he was really good in SA as well, but he has clearly improved. At the time of the trade San Antonio fans hated it generally and it was widely viewed as a steal.
For the difference in FRPs…it depends on the picks.
The Celtics turned down strong packages because they don’t want to trade him.
In a vacuum FVV plus the 3 picks mentioned by the OP seems light to me because 2027 is not a strong draft and the other two picks are likely late.
If it was the best of 2027 then that makes it closer for me or if we can route Eason to Boston rather than FVV somehow then there is a package we could discuss.

[ThatBoyNick]

If Eason can keep up the 57% shooting from the three, he might be worth 3 FRPs.

As a RFA that would be tough, it would have to be very late firsts and it’s hard to gauge that at the trade the deadline.

My response to you was about the 24 mpg, and the rest of my post was addressing the general tone in the thread about Easons talent. I agree 3 first is a unrealistic expectation at this moment. But Larv did say “what he’d sell him for” and not “what’s fair value” IIRC


If Eason can average a few percentage points over his career efficiency averages, cut down on the turnovers a bit, and stay healthy enough to average 30-35 mpg, I think he’d easily be the same tier player as D.White.

[Celts17Pride]

Boston acquired Derrick White for one FRP plus a distant future FRP swap. Now that White is 4 years older and twice as expensive, they're demanding 3 FRP's for him.

FVV plus one good FRP for White is plenty. The added bonus for Boston is that they tank and boost the value of their own pick.

Plenty for you, not for the Celtics. DWhite isn’t going anywhere

[giberish]

Boston acquired Derrick White for one FRP plus a distant future FRP swap. Now that White is 4 years older and twice as expensive, they're demanding 3 FRP's for him.

FVV plus one good FRP for White is plenty. The added bonus for Boston is that they tank and boost the value of their own pick.

Plenty for you, not for the Celtics. DWhite isn’t going anywhere

Players don't have just one trade value, they have several depending on team situation. There's neutral 'fair' value. There's motivated seller value. There's desperate seller value. There's reluctant seller value. There's non seller value. (granted the two extremes rarely come into play as motivated seller value is usually enough to move a guy before things get desperate and non-seller value is so high other teams aren't willing to consider it).

When SA traded White they were beginning a long-term rebuild and were thus motivated sellers.

Boston isn't starting a long-term rebuild and instead wants to compete in 2026-7. So they're reluctant sellers to non-sellers for White. That's the difference in trade price - the cost of prying him away from a team that would strongly prefer to keep him vs a team looking to sell.

[LarsV8]

Eason probably exceeded Whites value at this point.

White is having a terrible year, raising questions on whether he is just a system player, benefiting from playing off Tatum.

[brackdan70]

Eason probably exceeded Whites value at this point.

White is having a terrible year, raising questions on whether he is just a system player, benefiting from playing off Tatum.

10 games in.
His shooting numbers look bad but he is still having a positive impact.
I don’t think we base value on 10 games. If half way thru the season he is still struggling then maybe that makes sense.
And if he is just a system player, that looks like a to 30 guy with Tatum, then the Celtics should keep him to play him with Tatum.

[Jojothewhale]

I will never understand why we as fans collectively do this thing with high end role players where we question whether they were ever good when they’re asked to scale up and fail. They’re force multipliers. They don’t scale the baseline in a league as talented as the NBA.

We’ve got to know better than to swing opinions this wildly after 10 Games.

[Cricket23]

White would be fantastic for Houston and very well could be the difference between winning the chip or not during the Durant years. Houston has to be aggressive. White has played well, he just hasn't shot well. He's having to create all of his own offense; there's been no creation for him. The Rockets should also look to get Hauser in the deal.