Celtics trade idea ships Derrick White to scorching Western Conference contender

Following their deflating 128-101 defeat at the hands of Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Alperen Şengün and the Houston Rockets on Saturday night, the Boston Celtics might be ready to embrace the tank. 

Though the team had responded to an ugly 0-3 beginning to the season by winning their next three consecutive games, the 27-point blowout loss may have served as a signal that another fire sale should soon begin for Boston.

In fact, one NBA writer believes that fresh off of their embarrassing performance, the Celtics could contact the Rockets and Brooklyn Nets to negotiate a blockbuster three-team trade to deal their two-way star Derrick White and fully lean into taking a gap year.

"(Boston) has an incentive to get out of the luxury tax; Derrick White's expensive salary may be expendable," Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus wrote Sunday night.

"Celtics fans are just coming to grips with the notion that the team is 'soft tanking.' The practical and financial realities of Tatum's injury and massive repeater tax and apron penalties led the franchise to trade away championship core players like Jrue Holiday and Porziņģis."

"White is already 31. The Celtics use this opportunity to get younger at guard."

By prospectively dealing their 2024 NBA champion and two-time All-Defensive Second Team selection to the Rockets, Pincus suggests that the Celtics could gain Houston's former No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft Reed Sheppard, Brooklyn Nets forward Jalen Wilson, a 2029 first-round pick from Houston and create a $28.1 million trade exception in return.

The Rockets would be able to add White in an effort to replace their injured point guard Fred VanVleet, who would make a move to Brooklyn in this hypothetical.

In seven appearances for the Celtics in 2025-26, White has struggled on the offensive end, as he's averaging 15.0 points and 4.0 assists on a putrid 38.0% effective field goal percentage.

For a Rockets group leading the NBA in scoring with an incredible 127.8-point average, White's stellar perimeter defense would possibly help the team break into the top-10 in defense for the rest of the campaign.

Boston would be able gain valuable draft capital and a promising young point guard in Sheppard, who has contributed 10.4 points and 3.4 assists while knocking down a blistering 44.4% of his three-point attempts to begin his sophomore season with Houston.

Sure, the Celtics might have a tough time accepting that their title window may have closed for the immediate future, but trades to acquire solid young pieces will surely be made available to their front office as the 2025-26 season rolls along.

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