BOSTON — Brad Stevens has made a habit of getting deals under the buzzer. In the year In 2022, he returned Daniel Theis to the Celtics less than 10 minutes before the trade deadline. Then he did it again Thursday, Jaden Springer to get a second round pick.
The surprising thing about this business wasn’t how late it came. It was the team on the other side of the deal. Why would one of their biggest rivals — hoping MVP Joel Embiid returns in time for a postseason rematch — trade a player for the top team in the Eastern Conference?
“Our assessment is that the timeline is far from helping a playoff team beyond what a second-round pick can do for us,” Sixers president Daryl Morey said. He told reporters in Philadelphia on Friday..
But earlier that morning, Brad Stevens called Spring an athletic athlete in the game. He called the 21-year-old Springer a puppy. Both can be true. The fact is that the Sixers, who are moving in the same title window, have given their rival someone who will be useful at some point, depending on which GM you ask.
“We did it. It hurts. I think Jaden’s going to be great,” Morey said. “I think his schedule is pushed a little bit. (It’s) our evaluation and if we’re wrong, we’re wrong. And then you all can write it off. It’s good.”
The Celtics’ assessment is that the Sixers are wrong. But they are also working from a different point of view. While Boston was living through its Second Apron Cup appearance, the Springer trade helped keep Philadelphia under the tax bracket and regained exclusive access to the middle tier. It gives them a pick that they can use to get more assets on draft night, then flip them to Soldier. It just lets them all in sooner.
“That one was pretty straightforward, again, we’re focused on winning the title. We had to see what opportunities there are for Jaden Springer, who I think has a great future, to help us with our tournament in one, two years, three years, maybe on the horizon? Morrie said. “And what does the second round election help us? The second round pick helped us more and we thought that was the reality. It will allow us to go for veterans on next year’s deadline and things like that.
One of the glaring questions facing teams as they build championship rosters is how to maintain their depth. Young players grow up, their rookie deals expire and someone else pays them more than they can afford. Just look at what happened with Grant Williams.
With the Celtics releasing Williams and dealing Marcus Smart to bring in Kristaps Porridge, one of the few unknowns is how the team will handle his streak and defensive impact. Then they traded for Juru Holliday. The problem is solved.
But all the moves they’ve made, combined with the new collective bargaining agreement, have made it difficult to find quality deep bench stock. They spent the first few years of this decade developing Eurostation and major development projects, so there was no one behind Williams, Peyton Pritchard and Sam Hauser, the latter of whom was undrafted the same year Springer and the Celtics selected Juhan Begari.
That meant they had to fill out the back end of the roster while maintaining their position in the league. Osha Brissett, Luke Cornett and Nemias Kuta have played well, while Dalano Banton and Svi Mykhayluk haven’t seen much of the field and promising starter Jordan Walsh has been in the G League for most of the season.
They needed someone to bridge the gap between long-term projects and rotation players like Walsh and JD Davison. It was clear that the Celtics would take their time to answer those questions when they took the first round from the Portsius deal and turned it into five second-rounders.
Boston was entering the season short and long-term with a few key pieces. But the Celtics know they can get what they want when the trade deadline comes around and teams get desperate or desperate.
If Porzis or Al Horford get hurt in the postseason, but no one entering the season young enough to replace Horford when he retires can confidently fill in.
Enter Tillman.
No one matched Pritchard’s defensive prowess to star wings.
Enter Springer.
Time and time again, Stevens’ front office used time slots to find good value solutions to their problems. Somehow they managed to trade for Porsches And Get it first because the Big One is about to leave the Wizards in free agency.
Ever since Stevens saw Spring as a disruptive defender during preseason games earlier this season, he’s been keeping an eye on the young wing, hoping the Sixers would want to move him aside to maintain financial flexibility. Stevens was happy to take that because the second apron was taking all of his flexibility. Boston needed to bring in guys now because making trades and signing free agents will slow down this summer.
“I think everybody has to do what they think is best for their company at that point,” Stevens said. “The other reality is that we all have different evaluations of people, and that’s part of it. … But in the end, we just have to see where we are. How about we try to do things that might help us improve on the edge now, but might give us a chance to hit on guys that we might not get to later, right?”
Springer was the 28th pick in the 2021 draft, the year the Celtics selected Begari. Although he’s an athletic ball-hawk defenseman they could use in the development pipeline, who knows if Begarin will come stateside from Europe. But effectively, the Celtics took the 45th pick they used on Begarin, added what would now be the 41st pick of the upcoming draft, and turned that into a 21-year-old who locked up Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic last season. week.
But while Springer has shown he can be a classy defender against many of the league’s best players, there’s a reason the Sixers let him go. Yes, head coach Joe Mazzula could throw him into a playoff game in a few months and he could be electric on defense. He can probably pick up a few offense and fight on offense.
So how does Boston not waste his potential the way they did with Aaron Nesmith, who is thriving in a consistent role in Indiana?
“I think (developing players) was a point of focus for us this offseason and that point was kind of building our player development staff,” Mazula said.
“So it’s not about a specific role, it’s all about the concepts that we’re looking for and some of the situations that they fit into.”
What could have happened if the Celtics ended up flipping their pick in the draft and selecting Marcus Sasser 25th overall. In Detroit, he’s shooting lights out and becoming one of the few bright spots in what has been a historically bad season for the Pistons. But like Walsh, he never saw the floor in Boston.
But as a GM, you can’t look back.
“For me, the Jaden thing was a success. If people want to write the opposite, I’m totally fine,” Morey said. But 85 percent of late second-round picks aren’t helping their team on the floor, and they can’t be traded at a positive price to help you get another player. Jayden did that and now I have to focus on the playoff team. So our focus is right or wrong.”
Maury says Embiid ends this season with optimism that he will bounce back. Also, Embiid’s health struggles over the past few years have put him in a winning situation. Springer may be ready for competition in two years, but that’s a long way off for Philadelphia.
The Celtics don’t have much to worry about. Things are as close to perfect as they get. Their challenge will be to realize and execute what a title run really takes.
Who knows if Morrie or Stevens were right in their decision? There’s only one way to find out.
“It’s a high-level tournament with a lot of good teams,” Stevens said. “Nothing is done on paper. Everything is done in court.”
(Main photo of Jaden Springer and Derek White: Bill Streicher / USA TODAY)