CLEVELAND -- The Celtics have made trade deadline moves for the past three years with Brad Stevens at the helm, albeit of varying impact. A splashy move like acquiring Derrick White (2022 trade deadline) is essentially off the table this year, barring moving a core member of the team’s rotation. League sources tell MassLive such a move is very unlikely to happen.
However, Stevens has always liked to make some adjustments around the edges of the roster. Two years ago he brought aboard Mike Muscala. Last year, Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer were new additions.
With the end of the bench this year, there is some room for improvement, along with some incentives to move at least one player on the roster. If the Celtics elect to make a move on Thursday, what players could be on the move? Let’s look at the three top candidates. Jaden Springer: The 22-year-old guard was a trade candidate as early as this preseason through no fault of his own.
He failed to earn a rotation spot out of the gate and his $4 million salary leads to upwards of $16 million in repeater tax penalties, a sharp increase over a player making the league’s minimum. Springer has emerged as a useful contributor for Joe Mazzulla in the past few weeks with an impressive defensive performance against the Clippers. However, that play is probably not enough to justify his price, particularly when the team could find an offensive upgrade during his spot.
The question now with Springer is just how they elect to move.
