Brad Stevens Explains Boston Celtics Trade Deadline Moves

Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics front office were active at the trade deadline, ultimately moving away four players, adding Nikola Vucevic from the Chicago Bulls, and getting under the tax line. 

On Friday, Stevens held a news conference to explain the moves. 

“Obviously this summer we had to get under the second apron,” he said. “Every basketball reason in the world for that, and it was the right thing to do. The directive at this trade deadline was, let's see if we can find some size that we could give ourselves a little more depth there and make sure we are more prepared for some of the physicality that’s coming down the road if we’re able to be in the playoffs and however long you’re in the playoffs.” 

Stevens characterized it as balancing the roster to add a big where there wasn’t much depth, and moving a wing scorer like Anfernee Simons, even though he’s a good one, because the Celtics have more ways to cover that spot. 

“It’s a hard decision when you have to move a person like Ant who’s been so good, such a great teammate,” Stevens said. “I thought we had a little more depth and opportunity at the guard to cover that and if we were able to get a big that had a similar impact from the standpoint of I guess filling different statistical needs and gave us a little more insurance in case of any depth issues, I felt like that was the right thing to do. And Nikola is a good player. He’s been a good player for a long time.”

To Stevens’ point, the Celtics have been mostly fortunate that Neemias Queta and Luka Garza have barely missed any time. Simons was expected to be traded the moment he got to Boston, so it’s no surprise that he’s the candidate to move. Now with Vucevic, the team feels it has recalibrated the roster to fit better, especially for whenever Jayson Tatum returns. 

“We think we're materially improved with the move we've made, even though we lost a really good player,” Stevens said. “We looked at everything we could to do the best we could, to take advantage of this year. And this was a move that hopefully gives us a little bit more depth at the position, and we'll see how it all pans out with a really good player. And at the same time, the result is we do have increased flexibility moving forward.”

That flexibility comes in the form of getting under the first apron and tax line. For the first time in years, the Celtics now have the ability to take back more money than they send out in a deal, which was a restriction imposed by the new CBA on first- and second-apron teams. The move to get under the tax, according to Stevens, presented itself because of the Vucevic trade.

“We saw that as an opportunity,” Stevens said. “But next year, if there’s something we look at and we say we’ve got to take advantage of it right now, then we’re gonna try to take advantage of it. Bill [Chisholm] has been really clear with that. The tax, for me, was there was an opportunity with two days left before the trade deadline we didn’t necessarily think would be there.”

The Celtics pounced on that opportunity, trading away Chris Boucher, Josh Minott, and Xavier Tillman Sr. for nothing but picks and cash. They have since filled one of the roster spots by upgrading Amari Williams’ two-way deal to a multi-year guaranteed contract, but they still have work to do to fill more. 

“We’ll ultimately fill a roster spot with at least one more ball-handler and then see how the rest of the needs play themselves out,” he said. He added that the other spot might be filled on the buyout market, but that whichever player comes in “will not be somebody that we're going to ask to come in and be a part of the everyday rotation when we're fully healthy.”

One possibility is upgrading Ron Harper Jr. to a guaranteed contract, but because he’s already on a two-way deal, there is no rush to do that. 

The Celtics have rebalanced their roster and gained some flexibility to make future moves. The Celtics say they took advantage of a unique opportunity to trade away guys no longer in the rotation to maximize what they can do. If Vucevic can step in and perform at a high level, and if the Celtics can use that flexibility to make the team better in the offseason, then this deadline will be seen as a success. But there will be some squinted looks between now and then to make sure finances weren’t the only motivation.