This year’s NBA trade deadline day was chaotic around the league. But for the Celtics, who made their lone minor move a day earlier, it was “boring as hell.”
That’s how Brad Stevens described what Thursday was like inside Boston’s team headquarters. Having reached an agreement on Wednesday to trade reserve guard Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations knew his team’s pre-deadline work was largely done.
“It was just like, no, there’s nothing,” Stevens said before Thursday night’s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. “Like, there wasn’t going to be anything going, and it was very, you know — the phones didn’t ring. We had already had any discussions that we were probably going to have, and we just weren’t going to do anything major, because at the end of the day, even through our ups and downs over the last six weeks, what gives us our best chance of having a chance to win? And that is this group playing a little bit more like itself more of the time. So I’m encouraged by where we’re headed with that and never really wavered in our belief in that.”
That doesn’t mean Stevens is done tinkering with Boston’s roster, however, which still remains mostly intact from last season’s championship run. The Celtics now have two open 15-man roster spots, and NBA rules require them to fill at least one of them within the next two weeks.
The plan, Stevens said, is to plug Springer’s spot in short order but not rush to fill the 15th and final spot, which the team has left vacant since the offseason.
“We have 13 guys right now,” Stevens said.” We’ll probably do something with the 14th relatively soon, and then we’ll take our time with the 15th and really assess our health and needs and those types of things as we go on. I won’t get into any particular players. I think all of our guys have done a great job. It will be more based on the needs of the Celtics.”
The No. 1 need, in Stevens’ eyes, is depth on the wing behind Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser. Brown and Hauser have dealt with lingering injuries throughout the season, and Boston’s internal options behind those three regulars all are young players who have seen sporadic playing time (second-year pro Jordan Walsh, first-round rookie Baylor Scheierman and two-way player Drew Peterson).
“I think the first thing that we’ll look to do is bring in a wing,” Stevens said.
Available players with prior Celtics ties include Oshae Brissett, who won a championship with Boston last season and currently plays for Brooklyn’s G League affiliate, and Lonnie Walker IV, who signed with a Lithuanian club after spending the preseason with the Celtics. Stevens also could look to the buyout market for a player like Torrey Craig, who was waived by Chicago earlier this week.
Because the Celtics are over the second apron of the NBA’s luxury tax, they cannot sign any buyout players who were making more than $12.8 million on their previous contract.
Limiting Boston’s tax burden and creating roster and financial flexibility were the primary motivations behind trading Springer, a 22-year-old defensive specialist who turned in multiple impressive performances in the second half of January. The Celtics attached a 2030 second-round pick to entice Houston to take on Springer’s $4 million contract, and the Rockets reportedly planned to waive the young guard rather than rostering him.
Stevens praised Springer, calling him a “bulldog” who can “probably play really well in a rotation in the NBA,” but said the Celtics initially acquired him last February as insurance for Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Hauser, none of whom were signed to long-term contracts at the time. All three now are, limiting Springer’s path to playing time and long-term value for Boston, as he’s set to be a restricted free agent this offseason.
“The No. 1 north star of our team right now is to try our best to have a chance to win again,” Stevens explained. “Obviously, when we make moves like we did the other day, that opens a roster spot, so there’s an opportunity to fill that. But you’re also weighing how much people are playing, how much opportunity they’re really getting, how much opportunity they’re probably gonna get as you get into the playoffs. Hey, I really like Jaden. I think he’s gonna be a good player. I think he’s a good kid. I’m really rooting for him, and I’ll help him in any way I can. And at the same time, we’re pretty deep. So I feel really good about having answers at a lot of different places, and I think the open roster spots will provide some opportunity to have some flexibility, as well.”
The Celtics already have lost nearly as many games (15) as they did all of last season (18), and they’re an unremarkable 15-10 since mid-December. They entered Thursday’s NBA Finals rematch on a four-game winning streak, however, with a 7-2 record in their last nine games.
“We have to play better, and there’s several reasons why we probably haven’t,” Stevens said. “But we believe in this group. And if we bring somebody in, it’s because we believe that they will add to the group. That doesn’t mean they’ll play every day, but that they, when called upon, can be ready to go.”