Derrick White earned $500K bonus for reaching this unlikely incentive

Derrick White earned $500K bonus for reaching this unlikely incentive originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Celtics guard Derrick White’s transformation into a very good 3-point shooter has earned himself a nice bonus payment.

White had an incentive in his contract for the 2023-24 NBA season that would earn him an extra $500,000 if he made 185 or more 3-point shots. The veteran guard shot 4-of-10 from 3-point range in Monday night’s win over the Charlotte Hornets, giving him 188 on the season and putting him over the threshold needed for the $500K bonus.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks explained in a post on X that “because the bonus was deemed unlikely before the season, Boston will have an additional $500K charged toward their team salary.” Marks also noted that White’s cap hit for the 2024-25 season will be adjusted to $20,071,429.

Three-point shooting was one of the primary criticisms of White when the Celtics acquired him in a trade with the San Antonio Spurs before the 2022 trade deadline. He was a 34.4 percent 3-point shooter in San Antonio who had never made more than 84 of these shots in a single season.

White’s improvement as a shooter has been enormous with the Celtics. He has hit 38.2 percent of his 3-pointers in three-plus seasons with the C’s, and his 40.1 percent rate this season would be a career high. His 371 made 3-pointers with the Celtics are 71 more than he made with the Spurs in 60 fewer games.

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If you look at how many 3-pointers White made during his first full pro season in 2018-19 versus this season, it’s a night and day difference, as you can see in the shot charts below (via NBA.com).

White is having the best season of his career right now, and not just in terms of 3-point shooting. He’s averaging personal bests with 15.6 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. His 89.9 percent free throw percentage is a career high, too.

The 29-year-old guard is having an excellent defensive campaign as well, and fully deserves a spot on one of the league’s two All-Defensive teams.

The White trade has been a home run for the Celtics overall. He makes a tremendous impact at both ends of the floor, and his improvement as a 3-point shooter has probably been the most impressive aspect of his value to the team.