Why Derrick White wants to be like fellow Celtic Payton Pritchard this offseason

Despite all the question marks surrounding the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2025-26 season, guard Derrick White isn't one of them. The 2024 NBA champion is fresh off one of the best years of his career, yet he still understands that there are a few facets of his game that need refining. For help, he wants to look to Celtics teammate and reigning Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard.

On the first episode of White's new podcast, "White Noise," the Colorado native stressed that summer is the perfect time for improving — something he hopes to do regardless of how strong his last season with the C's was.

"It's a big summer for me to get better and work on a lot of the things I got to work on, and I'm excited to get better," White emphasized. "And I'm excited for the next year."

One craft White aims to hone is his ball handling, which is an area he knows Pritchard excels in based on all the videos of him dribbling in the garage like a madman.

"I want to get my Payton Pritchard bag up," White said with a smile. "P's unbelievable...I'm going to have to get in the garage soon. I don't know if I got it like P like that, but I'm working, P."

Although the Celtics' 2024-25 campaign went awry, White and Pritchard were reliable contributors. They both played in over 75 regular season games and notched career-highs on the same night, as White dropped 41 points during a win in early March over the Portland Trail Blazers while Pritchard recorded 43.

With Celtics star Jayson Tatum out indefinitely next season, White and Pritchard will be more valuable to Boston than ever. Whether or not they can carry the Celtics alongside star Jaylen Brown remains to be seen, but there's no doubt they'll be ready to go when October arrives.

Listen to "Havlicek Stole the Pod" on:

Spotify: https://tiny.ee/CdKp

iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47

YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics guard Derrick White plans to practice like Payton Pritchard