Best Potential Landing Spots for Royce White to Resurrect NBA Career
Royce White is on the verge of making an NBA comeback.
Drafted 16th overall in 2012 by the Houston Rockets, the 24-year-old has played in just three regular-season tilts to date. He's spent the last three years bouncing around, going from Houston to the Philadelphia 76ers to the Sacramento Kings.
As USA Today's Sam Amick noted back in February 2014, he "struggled to adjust to the NBA lifestyle," in large part because he suffers from an anxiety disorder. But White isn't thinking about that now. He's ready to return.
"I don't even believe in that, in case it doesn't work out," he said of his return, per KSTP.com. "It's gonna work out, it's gonna work out."
It's unlikely that White lands a prominent role anywhere. But teams will always make room for a versatile forward with first-round upside. The best fits will be squads that can capitalize on his skill set and surround him with the right leadership.
Rumors will play a factor in determining White's best potential destinations. Past ties to coaches and play styles will count heavily as well.
Potential playing time matters, but it's not everything. White needs to be on a good team that can be patient and bring him along slowly as he tries to make up for three seasons' worth of lost time.
5. New Orleans Pelicans
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There's no question the Pelicans need additional bodies. They're woefully thin outside the starting five, their bench essentially stretching only two impact players deep: Ryan Anderson and Quincy Pondexter.
A search for those bodies has led them to White himself, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.
White makes sense if they're looking for someone to provide spot minutes at power forward off the pine. Anthony Davis already soaks up most of the playing time there, but the Pelicans offense struggled to produce without him, pumping in a paltry 100.5 points per 100 possessions when he would sit.
Power forward isn't the Pelicans' most glaring hole, though. And while they could use some help at small forward, White's lack of three-point range—he attempted just 12 at Iowa State—makes him an impossible fit.
Adding him wouldn't help solve any of the Pelicans' defensive problems either. White is known for his combination offense; he can get into the paint, has the handle of a point guard and sees the floor about as well as Tyreke Evans.
But the Pelicans ranked ninth in offensive efficiency last season. They need a perimeter stopper who ensures they're not constantly funneling dribble-drivers into Davis. White can be slow on that end of the floor and won't help them climb out of the bottom-10 defensive hole they finished the regular season in.
As an extra frontcourt body who can grab rebounds and score some points during garbage time, White makes sense. Beyond that, the Pelicans are a lukewarm fit.
4. Memphis Grizzlies
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The Memphis Grizzlies need to inject some versatility into their rotation.
Acquiring Jeff Green was supposed to be the solution, the final piece to their championship puzzle. But that experiment failed. The Grizzlies trotted out Green at small forward more than 75 percent of the time, and their offense lacked spacing as per usual.
Signing White isn't going to solve that spacing issue. His three-point shot is underdeveloped; he's yet to even make one at the NBA level, and he drilled just three of the 12 he jacked up in college.
At 6'9", though, he's a backup power forward alternative to Jon Leuer. He can also play point forward and jump-start the offense in ways Beno Udrih won't and Green just can't.
No, White won't shift the fate of this entire franchise. He may not transform what was barely a top-15 offense. He won't even be much of a necessity if both Marc Gasol and Green return, and the Grizzlies frontcourt remains clogged beyond reason.
But Memphis is a franchise that lacks versatility outside Gasol. And if they're going to re-sign him, thereby investing in this core further, they need to find potential diamonds on the cheap.
3. Los Angeles Clippers
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Two teams have offered White spots on their summer league squads, per KSTP.com, one of which is the Los Angeles Clippers.
Working in the same locker room as Chris Paul and head coach Doc Rivers would expose White to leadership he's never known. Rivers especially has a reputation for forging bonds with his players. Both he and Paul also helped the head honcho extract valuable playoff minutes from his son, Austin Rivers.
Stockpiling capable bodies has to be a priority for the Clippers this offseason. If they intend to re-sign DeAndre Jordan, they'll have no money to spend on filling out the supporting cast—which, among other things, proved to be their undoing amid an epic second-round collapse against the Rockets.
Small forward was the Clippers' most pressing problem during the regular season, both personnel-wise and statistically, according to 82games.com. White's offensive skill set and defensive mobility don't fit the small forward mold, but he's affordable talent, a commodity Los Angeles needs for the all-too-common moments when Rivers realizes his rotation can only stretch seven deep.
Glen Davis was the Clippers' most viable backup power forward during the playoffs. And not only does he play below the rim—more so than White—but he, Hedo Turkoglu and Ekpe Udoh are all free agents this summer.
Spencer Hawes found himself buried on the bench throughout the playoffs to boot. Clearly, the Clippers need frontcourt options. And White, though he must learn to play off the ball more, gives them another option.
2. San Antonio Spurs
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Sometimes, it's fun to throw silly putty at the wall and hope it sticks.
This is not one of those times.
The San Antonio Spurs are the other team offering White a summer league spot, according to KSTP.com, and it's difficult to think of a better culture for him to join.
Coach Gregg Popovich and crew don't just extend careers of superstars such as Tim Duncan. They have their hand in reclamation projects. Neither Boris Diaw nor Danny Green were exceptionally valued before syncing up with San Antonio.
In a way, White could be the next Diaw: a ball-dominant power forward with playmaking chops and a shaky jumper. The Spurs' system has Diaw playing off the ball more, and with the exception of 2014-15, he's thrived on the perimeter as part of their motion-heavy and reactive offense; he drilled 39.5 percent of his long balls in each of the previous two seasons.
Reinventing players is something of a habit for Popovich. And as the Spurs prepare for their most crucial offseason in years, he could use another project.
Nay, he may need another project.
Rather than stand pat, the Spurs are looking to make an uncharacteristic free-agent splash by chasing superstars such as LaMarcus Aldridge and Marc Gasol, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
Opening up the necessary cap space will take some finagling. Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher says Manu Ginobili and Duncan will be back next season, and both will eat into the Spurs' financial flexibility.
Even entertaining the idea of adding another star could cost them some combination of Marco Belinelli, Tiago Splitter, Diaw and Green. Adding a talented, albeit unproven, player like White would help keep some of the Spurs' highly touted depth intact.
1. Chicago Bulls
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Hello, no-brainer.
Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg is still expected to replace Tom Thibodeau as head honcho of the Chicago Bulls, according to CSN Chicago's Vincent Goodwill. Charania, in turn, says that the Bulls are interested in bringing in White.
Hoiberg coached White at Iowa state, the last place the versatile forward was truly dominant. He averaged 13.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and five assists per game in his only season under Hoiberg, quickly establishing himself as one of the most intriguing freshman talents in the country.
More than knowing how to use White the player, Hoiberg knows White the person. As the folks at Blog A Bull put it: "If Hoiberg comes to the Bulls, he could help provide the support network that Royce White needs to realize his potential in the NBA. White needs a coach and organization that understands him, and with Hoiberg's help the Bulls could provide exactly that."
Overstatement?
Not at all.
Consider what White previously said of Hoiberg, per Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore:
"I did tell somebody the other day, they asked would you get on a plane with Coach Hoiberg, and I said I'd follow coach into a volcano with airplanes shooting out of it. It was a joke, but really it wasn't. It's like a statement to my loyalty to him and how much I believe in him. I guess he did make me a lot more comfortable.
"
Unemployed first-round picks who haven't technically gone bust don't come around often. The Rockets drafted him at No. 16 for a reason. That reasoning hasn't yet been disproved.
Playing for Hoiberg, a familiar face, might be just what he needs to regain his momentum from nearly three years ago.
Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com unless otherwise cited.
Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @danfavale.
