Jaden Springer’s yearlong Celtics tenure is over.
Boston traded the 22-year-old guard to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, according to a report from ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Celtics also sent a 2030 second-round pick to Houston as part of the deal, and the teams exchanged “heavily protected second-rounders.”
The move was a pure salary dump for Boston, which is over the second apron of the NBA’s luxury tax. Springer’s $4 million salary was the eighth-highest on the Celtics’ roster, and he ranked 13th in minutes played this season entering Wednesday. Second-apron teams are hit with tax penalties equal to $3.25 for every dollar of salary, so trading Springer decreased the Celtics’ tax bill from $65.6 million to $50.2 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Boston now has made at least one trade deadline transaction in each of the last five seasons. It acquired Springer and Xavier Tillman in 2024, Mike Muscala in 2023, Derrick White and Daniel Theis in 2022, and Luke Kornet and Evan Fournier in 2021. The 2025 deadline is at 3 p.m. on Thursday.
Springer, who came over from Philadelphia last February, had seen a recent uptick in playing time and delivered several of his best performances in a Celtics uniform in the second half of January. He was a game-changer in Boston’s overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers, played well in garbage time against the Lakers, was a plus-11 in a two-point loss to Houston and logged 20 solid minutes against the Chicago Bulls. He’s a plus defender and has shown signs of life offensively, with one-third of his career 3-pointers coming in those four recent appearances (6 on 13 attempts).
“He’s just got an innate skill to impact the game with his physicality and his defense,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after the Clippers game, during which Springer recorded four steals, snuffed out a red-hot scoring streak by Kevin Porter Jr. and hit two clutch threes. “… I think one of the best things you can do in this league is to just deliver when your name is called, regardless of when it is, so it’s a credit to him.”
But Springer played sparingly when the Celtics had their entire core rotation available, and the team evidently determined the financial benefits of trading him outweighed his value as a depth/developmental piece. His energy and aggressiveness on defense should make him a good fit with Ime Udoka’s Rockets, who rank fourth in the NBA in defensive rating.
Springer told the Herald last week that he “of course” wanted to stay with the Celtics, with whom he won an NBA championship last season. In one and a half seasons in Boston, the Tennessee product saw action in 43 games, averaging 6.3 minutes and 1.9 points per appearance
“I love this team, man,” Springer said. “I got a championship with these guys. Great group of guys. But whatever happens, happens, and I’m grateful for whatever comes.”
Moving Springer gave the Celtics two open spots on their 15-man roster. Additional moves likely are forthcoming ahead of Thursday’s deadline, though the Celtics have up to two weeks to fill Springer’s spot and get back to the NBA-mandated minimum of 14 players on standard contracts.
Another potential trade candidate is Tillman, who has not been part of Mazzulla’s regular rotation since the opening week of the season and did not see the floor in nine of Boston’s last 11 games. The 6-foot-8 big man offers defensive versatility, but he lacks the size of reserve 7-footers Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta and has struggled mightily as a shooter, making just four of his 22 3-point attempts (18.2%). Tillman’s $2.2 million salary is the veteran minimum.
As for how the Celtics will fill their roster vacancies, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens could look to add more proven wing depth behind Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser, or a capable bench scorer to share the load when shots aren’t falling for Payton Pritchard and Hauser. Additional frontcourt insurance is another possibility given Kristaps Porzingis’ injury history and Al Horford’s age, though Kornet and Queta have been solid backups this season.
Boston’s current bench outside of Horford, Pritchard, Hauser, Kornet, Queta and Tillman consists of second-year pro Jordan Walsh, first-round rookie Baylor Scheierman, and two-way players Drew Peterson, JD Davison and Anton Watson.
Walsh has taken a step forward in Year 2 but hasn’t seen consistent minutes and offers little on the offensive end (1.6 points per game). Peterson has shown potential in his occasional cameos with the parent club, making him a candidate for a permanent roster spot down the line, a la Queta last season. Scheierman is improving as he adjusts to the NBA game but hasn’t looked ready for a regular role, while Davison and Watson have been G League-only players to this point.
Several former Celtics have been rumored as possible trade bait, including New Orleans’ Javonte Green and Philadelphia’s Guerschon Yabusele, who’s back in the NBA after four seasons in Europe and scored 21 points against Boston on Sunday. Oshae Brissett, a 2023-24 Celtics champion who currently plays for Brooklyn’s G League team, also is available, as is Lonnie Walker IV, who took his talents to Lithuania after being cut by Boston this preseason.
Non-Celtics-affiliated players who could fill needs include Charlotte Hornets guard Seth Curry, Brooklyn Nets big man Day’Ron Sharpe and veteran wing Torrey Craig, who was waived by the Chicago Bulls earlier this week. First- and second-apron teams are barred from signing buyout players whose previous contract paid them more than $12.8 million, but cheap vets like Craig are fair game.
Boston will close out deadline day with a home matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, who overhauled their franchise this past weekend by trading centerpiece superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis. As of Wednesday afternoon, it was unclear whether Davis or fellow trade pickup Caleb Martin would be cleared to play against the Celtics.
