San Antonio Spurs: Derrick White shines at Team USA, moves up rosters

Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images
Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images /
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Spurs guard Derrick White outshined some of the best young players in the league along with established stars at Team USA scrimmages this week.

San Antonio Spurs guard Derrick White is being lauded for his play at the team USA World Cup camp. White, who was chosen for the select team, was the only Spur to retain a spot on either roster as DeMar DeRozan withdrew from the official training camp roster. Now, after a frenzy of activity and hype surrounding his play at camp, White will be joining the official roster in Los Angeles next week, per a report by Bleacher Report’s Ric Bucher.

Word of White’s play spread around the internet like wildfire. On Wednesday, the select roster and training camp roster played a scrimmage. The scrimmage was only partially open to the media, adding to the secrecy of the whole scenario.

It felt like you were hearing everything as rumors. There was no official video of the scrimmage, only a string of highlights recorded on iPhones. Fans relied on word of mouth to uncover the happenings of the game until more video began to leak.

In the scrimmage, Derrick White shined against the likes of Kemba Walker, Khris Middleton, Kyle Lowry and Donovan Mitchell. In a courtside interview, Jeff Van Gundy praised White, saying: “His confidence level has grown — He knows he belongs.” Also saying: “Yesterday, he was the best player on the court.” White’s skills were on full display this week, and it will earn him a promotion to the training camp roster.

Things are getting very very spicy if you are a Spurs fan. Derrick White is the truth, and he is showing it on a league-wide level. Bucher took to Instagram to go in-depth about White’s play at camp, one coach telling him “White was the best player on either team in the day two scrimmages,” and that “on day three I saw him damn near replicate that with my own eyes.”

White is not the only player to have moved up from the select roster to the training camp roster, Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox was promoted a few days ago per Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes. The two young guards went head to head in the scrimmage yesterday. A video released by Ballislife shows the two guarding each other in a few different clips.

In this clip, Derrick White is running point guard for the select team. He is guarded by Fox but manages to get past him and thread the needle for a very nice and on-brand assist. Fox has been one of the biggest names mentioned at camp for his ability to leave players behind him.

Above is Derrick White blocking Fox on one end and running the floor, spinning around a defender at halfcourt and throwing it up accurately to Jonathan Isaac. He effortlessly spins around and keeps his composure.  The next clip shows White looking good in the halfcourt, driving and dishing it to Jarret Allen for another assist. His play here looks nothing short of the stellar performances of last season.

Derrick White outshined some of the league’s most exciting young guards and top players’ alike. His effort and skill promoted him to the training camp roster. Of course, that roster is being coached by Gregg Popovich himself, which could prove handily in White’s favor. Shining at camp and in China could land White an even bigger role in the regular season. And if you let me look even further into the future, a large payday in two years.

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Team USA will be hosting a white vs blue scrimmage this Friday, Aug. 9 at 10 PM EST. In what would have been White’s last official play before the preseason, he now has a chance to prove himself even more on a global stage.