Like many of his peers in other NBA front offices, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens was a busy man this week. He and the Celtics pulled off four trades this week, including a trio of moves Thursday that will allow them to dodge the luxury tax.
Before the 3 p.m. deadline Thursday, the Celtics traded Chris Boucher and Denver’s 2027 second-round pick to the Utah Jazz for two-way rookie John Tonje; sent Josh Minott to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations; and dealt Xavier Tillman and cash considerations to the Charlotte Hornets for a heavily protected future second-round pick, league sources confirmed to The Athletic. Those moves all followed the acquisition of Nikola Vučević and a future second-round pick from the Chicago Bulls for Anfernee Simons and a 2026 second-round pick, which came earlier in the week. In addition to the trades, the Celtics announced they converted Amari Williams’ two-way contract into a multi-year standard deal.
The string of maneuvers has put the Celtics in a position to duck the luxury tax entirely. Though they did not initially have that as a deadline-week priority, they started to consider it a realistic possibility after shedding more than $6 million in salary in the Simons-Vučević swap, according to league sources. After that, Boston was able to trim the rest of the salary required to escape the tax without moving any more rotation players.
That doesn’t mean the trades were painless. Though Tillman had fallen out of the rotation, the Celtics valued his locker-room presence. Despite his small role on the court, teammates looked up to him as a leader and respected the way he carried himself. Minott, 23, has significant upside, though he fell out of favor after a strong start to his Celtics tenure.
Even after the flurry of trades, the Celtics will still need to do some financial tightrope walking over the rest of the season to stay under the tax. That process will start with them keeping just 12 players under contract for the next two weeks, according to league sources. They have until Feb. 19 to return to a 14-player roster and intend to take advantage of all the wiggle room provided to them. Teams can only have fewer than 14 players on the roster for 14 consecutive days and 28 days total during a season, so the Celtics will need to be smart while timing their signings the rest of the way. Still, they will be able to stay under the tax, which should provide them additional flexibility. They would reset the harsh repeater tax by also staying under the tax next season.
Some more thoughts on the Celtics’ deadline activity:
1. The Celtics’ main goal at the deadline was to fortify their frontcourt with another big man, according to league sources. They did that early by acquiring Vučević from the Chicago Bulls.
With his addition, it’s not clear yet how head coach Joe Mazzulla will dole out playing time. Luka Garza has been productive off the bench, but could lose some of his minutes. Don’t be surprised if Neemias Queta sees a dip in playing time as well, so the Celtics can keep him fresh. After averaging 25.4 minutes per game in January, he has played 32.6 minutes per game so far in February.
2. It’s entirely possible Mazzulla used Queta and Garza together during Wednesday’s win against Houston because the Celtics were missing two perimeter starters and the Rockets’ lack of perimeter shooting makes them a good matchup to use two centers against. Still, the timing of the strategy was notable. With Vučević on the roster, the Celtics have more frontcourt options if they want to play bigger more often. They registered an astronomical 42.3-percent offensive rebound rate in Houston over 26 minutes with Queta and Garza sharing the court. Boston outscored the Rockets 70-54 during those minutes. Before the game, Queta and Garza had only played three minutes alongside each other all season.
3. One possible shortcoming of the Vučević acquisition: With an offensive rebound rate of 7.3 percent, he is much worse on the offensive glass than either Queta (13.1 percent) or Garza (16.4 percent). Working for extra possessions has been a real strength for the Celtics, who rank fifth in offensive rebound rate. Playing Vučević will likely sacrifice some of that advantage on the offensive glass, but he will provide other dimensions to the top-ranked Boston offense with his floor spacing and court vision.
4. Based on how limited the 33-year-old Boucher’s role was, moving him probably wasn’t a difficult call. The trade means his brief Celtics tenure ended bizarrely.
Playing on Sunday for the first time since Nov. 23, Boucher called for the ball on the final possession of the game against Sacramento and hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer even though Boston was beating the Kings by 16 points. In the NBA, most players would have just dribbled out the clock in that type of situation. When Boucher didn’t, Russell Westbrook, who didn’t even play in the game, was visibly frustrated by the decision.
The two exchanged words after the game, but Boucher walked over to Westbrook and apparently eased the tension with whatever he said to the nine-time All-Star.
And with that, Boucher never played for the Celtics again. It became clear he was on the way out when Boston ruled him out for personal reasons in each of the last two games.
5. Minott’s Celtics tenure went sideways quickly. While starting nine games early in the season, he looked like he could be a significant part of the team’s future. Then, suddenly, his playing time vanished. Months later, Boston traded him in a salary dump.
Based on the way Mazzulla reacted to Minott’s mistakes, the coach didn’t appreciate that the forward would occasionally lose focus or fail to execute the game plan. The emergence of several other young Boston wings also helped push Minott out of the rotation. Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him contribute in Brooklyn. He racks up steals and blocks. He does a decent job on the offensive glass. He shot 44.2 percent on 3-point attempts during his brief Celtics tenure. It just didn’t work out for him in Boston, despite his promising start.
6. Wednesday’s starting lineup should have been a sign of where Minott stood in the organization’s eyes. With Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser sidelined, the Celtics started Ron Harper Jr., who is on a two-way contract, and assigned him to defend Kevin Durant. Minott only played seven minutes while Harper Jr. played 33. After the trades at the deadline, don’t expect to see Harper with the NBA Celtics more often.
7. Williams similarly vaulted the veterans in front of him on the depth chart, becoming Mazzulla’s choice when the Celtics needed a third big man behind Queta and Garza. Though Williams’ opportunities to play will likely dry up with Vučević’s arrival, Boston rewarded the rookie big man by converting his contract to a standard deal. It must have been a cool 24 hours for him after drilling a game-winning layup for the Maine Celtics on Wednesday night.
8. It was impressive that Stevens was able to maneuver all the way out of the tax after staring at a possible $500 million payroll before the season. And he did so without trading away a single first-round pick in any of the transactions.
The extra future flexibility should help. By moving under the first apron, the Celtics gave themselves the ability to sign any buyout candidate regardless of how much the player was making on his previous contract. Though they will be tight up against the tax, a league source said they could be active on the buyout market eventually.
9. The $27.7-million traded player exception (TPE) created in the Simons-Vučević deal should be a helpful tool. The Celtics weren’t likely to absorb another big contract this season, when one of their objectives was to stay under the second apron, but they could be in a position to do so next season.
10. Payton Pritchard’s willingness to come off the bench after the Simons trade was more proof of the Celtics’ team-first culture. Pritchard had waited his entire career for a starting role. Once he got it, he produced at a high level while helping his team blast through preseason expectations. And still, he did not need much convincing to embrace a move back to the bench.
“Real simple,” Pritchard said of his conversation with Joe Mazzulla.
Pritchard understood the reasoning behind the switch. Without Simons, the Celtics bench needed another playmaker. And it’s not like the Celtics plan to feature Pritchard any less in his new role. Over his first two games coming off the bench, he scored a total of 53 points on 21-for-40 shooting from the field. He has only taken 20 shots in a game five times as a starter, but did so in each of his first two games as the team’s new sixth man.