Name: D.J. White Position: Power Forward Height: 6-9 (2.05m) Weight: 251(113kg) College Team: Indiana Hoosiers Nationality: American Birthplace: Tuscaloosa, Alabama Birthdate: 8/31/1986 Drafted: Selected by the Detroit Pistons in the first round (29th pick overall) of 2008 NBA Draft.

Strengths: Despite being undersized for the power forward position, White’s body has several physical traits that help him offset his average size with long arms and a short neck that enable him to maximize his body length … Decent runner of the court … Does an excellent job establishing position in the post … Gets his body wide to give his teammates a big target to pass into … Excellent pair of hands that are uniquely strong enough to secure loose balls but remain soft enough to catch passes without bobbling them … Owns a quality mid-range shot 14 feet from the basket … Enjoys physical play in that he looks to use is physicality to draw fouls from opposing defenders for free throw opportunities … Underrated passer whose court vision prevents double teams by quickly passing before they occur … Even more important is White’s understanding to keep the ball high when posting up his defender … Back to the basket game has developed considerably where he has a nice turnaround jumper and a jump hook that he can convert in heavy traffic … Proficient rebounder who does a great job locating the ball and boxing out in his area … Defensively, White disrupts most forwards from being able to set up in the post by denying position … Works hard and shows great effort staying in-between his man and the basket … Rarely plays out of his comfort level - seems to understand what his limitations are and does not usually try to exceed them … Plays the game with tremendous toughness in that White will play through injuries … Excellent finisher around the basket …

Weaknesses: Undersized for the power forward position, while listed at 6-9 White is closer to 6-8 … Health will be a concern as he has a history of being injury prone … Lacks a great deal of upside to continue growing as a player … While White has good range on his jump shot, he lacks consistency when shooting from mid-range … Athletically, he isn’t nearly as explosive as he once was due to the numerous injuries he has suffered throughout his career … Rebounding balls out of his position has improved tremendously this season, but remains a work in progress partly because his agility isn’t great … Back to the basket moves can be rendered useless if he has to match-up to an opposing defender that can match his physicality and athleticism … While an above average shot blocker on the collegiate level, White’s lack of explosiveness could prevent him from repeating the same numbers in the NBA … Doesn’t always play with the mean streak or aggressiveness you like to see in a power forward - although this wasn’t as big of a issue this season, there were still moments where he was passive …

Matthew Maurer - 4/21/08