The San Antonio Spurs will take on the Boston Celtics on Saturday, and the two franchises are still defined by a key trade made in 2022.
Should the Spurs have kept Derrick White?
Starting with trading DeMar DeRozan to the Chicago Bulls in 2021, the San Antonio Spurs officially kicked off their tank for Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs had been a middling team since 2018, and DeRozan simply did not fit their timeline.
Halfway through the following season, San Antonio would move on from Jakob Poeltl and Derrick White. At the end of that season, Dejounte Murray was sent to the Atlanta Hawks, becoming the last domino to fall.
Since then, DeRozan hasn't found much team success. Neither has Murray. Poeltl remains a quality center, but he is far from an elite player. The only departed player the Spurs really miss is Derrick White, who has become a star on the Boston Celtics.
Of course, making those moves was necessary in the tank for Wemby, and it all worked out. However, White is a floor-spacing, defensive-minded guard, leaving fans wondering "what if?"
What If Spurs Kept Derrick White?
With the Spurs, White showed flashes of his eventual stardom. It stands to reason that he would have broken out next to Wembanyama, and keeping him might not have elevated the Spurs out of prime lottery odds.
With White and Wembanyama, the Spurs likely wouldn't have landed the fourth pick in 2024 and the second pick in 2025, so Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper probably wouldn't be on the roster. With White capable of playing point guard, the Spurs might not have traded for De'Aaron Fox, as well.
While core players wouldn't be on the roster, Jeremy Sochan, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson, and Julian Champagnie probably all would be. With the picks in 2024 and 2025, the Spurs would have prioritized wings. Matas Buzelis and Collin Murray-Boyles, welcome to San Antonio!
With White running point, Vassell and Buzelis spacing the floor, and Murray-Boyles sharing the point with Wembanyama, the Spurs would be even more athletic than they are now, although they wouldn't have been able to establish as much depth.
Of course, it's impossible to map all the moves the Spurs would have or wouldn't have made had they kept White. Would they have even landed Wembanyama? Maybe a Derrick White-led roster in 2022-23 would have won more than 22 games. On the other side of the coin, do the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 Finals without him? Do they even make it that far?
Of all the former Spurs still in the league, White is the fan favorite. As the Spurs travel to Boston on Saturday, expect Luke Kornet to get a warm welcome from his former team, and for White to be well-received by the visiting Spurs.