It’s deadline day for White’s deal
In the low-pressure laboratory of the NBA bubble last August, the Spurs saw what was possible.
For themselves, and in particular for Derrick White.
The 26-year-old guard was a revelation for the revamped Spurs in Orlando, Fla., averaging 18.3 points, five assists and 4.3 rebounds in seven games, hitting 39.9 percent of his teamhigh eight 3-point attempts per contest and taking charges — 11 of them! — as if they were complimentary.
“He’s finding his confidence and his rhythm,” All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge said.
“He’s getting guys involved and growing in every aspect of his game. I think what you saw in the bubble is what he’s going to bring this year.”
If the Spurs have their way, White will continue to bring such things to the club for years to come.
The team faces a Monday deadline to agree to a contract extension with White, who is set to earn $3.5 million in the final year of his rookie-scale deal this season.
If the Spurs cannot come to terms with White, their first-round draft choice in 2017, he will become a restricted free agent next summer.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich made no secret the organization considers White part of its long-term plans.
“He has really developed well,” Popovich said. “He is somebody that we plan on for the future.”
Perhaps complicating matters — or perhaps not — White has been unable to participate in training camp after undergoing surgery on the second toe of his left foot not long after leaving the Orlando bubble.
The Spurs have offered no specific timetable for White’s return to the court, except for Popovich to say it will not be time to open the season Wednesday in Memphis. White has not been made available to the media since camp began.
Two Octobers ago, the Spurs faced a similar deadline and similar conundrum with Dejounte Murray.
The 2016 first-round pick was entering the final season of his rookie deal, having missed the previous campaign recovering from a torn ACL.
The Spurs ultimately inked Murray to a fouryear, $65-million extension before he played a single regular-season game on his reconstructed knee.
This marked a departure for the Spurs. The club typically has opted not to extend rookies before their fourth season, preferring to deal with that bit of business at the end of that campaign.
The Spurs took that same tact with Jakob Poeltl in October 2019, the same month they re-upped with Murray.
Poeltl was allowed to become a restricted free agent at the end of last season, but returned to the Spurs on a three-year, $27-million deal in November.
Looking back, Poeltl said he did his best to keep his contract negotiations — or lack thereof — on the back burner heading into last season.
“It didn’t really affect me at all,” Poeltl said. “I knew I was going to be here at least for another year, so my focus was solely on the season and playing basketball.”
There is a danger to letting White go the Poeltl route and enter restricted free agency, even if the Spurs would hold the right to match outside offers for him.
When Poeltl briefly hit the market in November, only six NBA teams had significant salary cap room with which to chase free agents.
The market is expected to be more robust next summer, when as many as half the teams in the league project to have cap space to spend, adding a layer of risk to allowing White to test it.
With Monday’s deadline approaching, Poeltl said he believes White can remain focused on getting back on the court, regardless of what happens around the negotiating table.
“I think all the noise in the background, all the contract negotiations, a lot of that is going on in the background with his agent anyway,” Poeltl said. “He’s pretty good with focusing on getting back to practice.”
It is fair to say the Spurs will miss White’s steadying presence to start the season.
He and then-rookie forward Keldon Johnson were instrumental pieces in the Spurs’ bubble project last summer.
With Johnson joining White on the injured list while nursing a foot ailment, the Spurs went 0-3 in the preseason and have so far struggled to reconjure their Disney World magic.
White in many ways became the Spurs’ glue in Orlando, excelling at both ends. He finished the season averaging 11.3 points, a career high.
“Derrick does a really good job of leading our team out there on the court,” Poeltl said. “He knows when to pick his spots, when he needs to be aggressive, when he’s just out there facilitating as the point guard. And I expect him to keep doing better in that regard.”
The most noticeable difference in White’s approach in Orlando came at the 3-point stripe.
He made multiple 3pointers in six of his seven appearances, and buried at least four shots from distance on four occasions.
White also led the seeding games in charges drawn, part of the reason he returned from Orlando banged up.
“Derrick’s been a fine player for us,” Popovich said. “He has just gotten better and better. A lot of it has been confidence, trying to convince him that he belongs.”
Through three professional seasons, White has proven he belongs as a starter-level NBA player.
Whether he will continue to belong in a Spurs uniform past this season is a question that could be answered Monday.
If not, White and the Spurs will have to wait until next summer to answer it.