Woj: D.J. White Will Sign with Celtics Within 24 Hours, With His Paperwork Arriving From China

Posted by Brian Robb on Feb 27, 2013 355990 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2013%2F02%2F27%2Fwoj-d-j-white-will-sign-with-celtics-within-24-hours-with-his-paperwork-arriving-from-china%2FWoj%3A+D.J.+White+Will+Sign+with+Celtics+Within+24+Hours%2C+With+His+Paperwork+Arriving+From+China2013-02-27+22%3A51%3A29Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D35599

The D.J. White odyssey from China is nearly over as the Celtics finally have some good news on the big man front. After being down to three NBA-ready big men over the last three games, the C’s are on the verge of receiving some official reinforcements in the form of 26-year-old power forward.

White has been trying to sign a deal with the Celtics for about the past week now, but hasn’t been able to do so until receiving clearance from his former Chinese team. Thankfully, the paperwork for that clearance has now arrived in Boston, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports

After forward D.J. White’s letter of clearance finally arrived from China, he’ll sign with Celtics in next 24 hours, sources tell Y! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) February 27, 2013

This was the second straight clearance delay from China, as the team had to wait on paperwork for nearly a week before Terrence Williams was available to play. Clearly, the folks across the Pacific send paperwork in less time than it would take for you and your whole family ford the river in Oregon Trail. Perhaps the folks in China would benefit in investing in new technology like this when sending their paperwork from now on.

All joking aside, with White signing a 10-day contract as soon as tomorrow, it’s likely he will be able to practice with the team Thursday in Waltham and should be uniform for the C’s Friday night when they host the Golden State Warriors.

Want to know more about what D.J. White can bring the Celtics? Check out CelticsHub’s full analysis from earlier this week

In case you missed it, some excerpts after the jump

The former Bobcat has been out of the NBA this year, posting 21.2 points and 9.7 rebounds per game for the Shanghai Sharks in the CBA. Those kind of numbers look imposing, but as we all know, the NBA and Chinese Basketball Association are two very different animals. So what exactly can we expect from White back in the states? And will he be able to contribute to the C’s in the rotation right away? Let’s investigate what White brings to the table.

THE GOOD D.J.

Finishing at the rim
This has not been a strength for the majority of the Celtics team this season, thanks to a vast collection of undersized bigs (and Jason Collins). White will be a breath of fresh air in this area.

He’s an above-average finisher at the basket, hitting 74 percent of his attempts around the rim during his career. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get there too much on his own, averaging just a couple attempts per game. However, if the C’s can get him the ball down there with good ball movement and cuts from White, there’s a good chance he’ll finish the job.

Reliable mid-range shooter
This is the bread and butter of White’s game, as he’s a steady midrange shooter from anywhere outside 10 feet to the 3-point arc. The 26-year-old hit about 43% of his jumpers from this range last season for Charlotte, taking roughly four attempts per game.

Those percentages make him as reliable as Brandon Bass from the midrange and that’s a useful skill for a guy like White who thrives in the pick and pop. Unlike Chris Wilcox, he will help Boston keep the floor spread offensively with the second unit. White also postups well from the mid-range and will take the option of pulling up for jumpers if his defender gives him room or driving to the hoop if a player crowds him too much in guarding against his jumper.

Check out the full analysis from earlier this week on White.