After spending essentially his entire season in the G-League, leading the Austin Spurs to a championship in 2018, Derrick White, second-year man out of Colorado, was poised for a big season. This sentiment was further strengthened after the unfortunate loss of incumbent starting point guard Dejounte Murray who suffered a season-ending ACL injury during the preseason.
Although one would never wish an injury upon a fellow teammate, losing Murray for the season would allow for an influx of minutes to flow in White’s direction. In the wake of that season-ending diagnosis, San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich named White as the starting point guard as the beginning of the season rapidly approached.