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San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich says the jury is still out as to who will start at point guard following Dejounte Murray's injury, though he hints that Derrick White could jump in for the post.
The 22-year old Murray tore his ACL during a preseason game against the Houston Rockets, raising questions about who will take over the ball-handling duties for the team. Jabari Young of The Athletic, however, tweeted out Popovich's response about Murray's injury, which seemingly confirms that the team hasn't made a final decision yet about his replacement.
And here is @TheAthleticNBA Popovich reaction on Murray’s torn ACL injury… as of now no starter named although it feels@like Derrick White could be the guy… #Spurs #NBA pic.twitter.com/YR2uk8m0e4
— Jabari Young (@JabariJYoung) October 8, 2018
Despite the gloom surrounding the Spurs facility today, Popovich was still in his usual comic self as he hilariously announced that DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge will definitely start. But he turned a bit straightforward when asked if the Spurs are confident on Derrick White's ability to fill in Murray's starting role.
“We were already confident in Derrick,” Popovich said. “He's done a good job for us and he was improving quickly, just like Dejounte had. Whether Dejounte was healthy or not, Derrick was going to play.”
The second-year guard out of Colorado has shown brilliant flashes of improvement during the recent Summer League. He tallied impressive all-around averages of 18.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists for the Spurs. White was also one of the NBA players selected to reinforce Team USA in the World Cup Qualifying games last September. He played both games against Uruguay and Panama, averaging 9.5 points while serving as the team's top playmaker.
With Murray out and veteran point guard Tony Parker signing with the Charlotte Hornets early in the offseason, the Spurs will rely on the 6-foot-4 White to fulfill the playmaking duties. Patty Mills also makes a case for himself, but the Spurs would arguably prefer to slot him in the 6th man role following Manu Ginobili's retirement this summer.
