The Celtics are beyond the chaos that comes from trade deadline week where it’s difficult to stay on top of every transaction going on across the league. The C’s tweaked their roster through four trades, though they didn’t make any big moves to their core.
The moves set them up well for the rest of the season and beyond. There are legitimate benefits from getting under the luxury tax like they did ahead of the deadline. The C’s traded away one rotation player in Anfernee Simons, but they landed big man Nikola Vucevic from the Bulls to round out their front-court rotation.
“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,” C’s president Brad Stevens said last week. “You have to have that. It’s just a physical toll that can be taken on a team. But the directive was always just see what we can do with the team.”
As a recap, here are the four trades the Celtics put together last week:
Trade No. 1 with the Bulls: Anfernee Simons and a second-round pick for Nikola Vucevic and a second-round pick.
Trade No. 2 with the Jazz: Chris Boucher, a second-round pick and cash considerations for two-way guard John Tonje.
Trade No. 3 with the Nets: Josh Minott for cash considerations.
Trade No. 4 with the Hornets: Xavier Tillman Sr. for a future protected secound-round pick.
Here’s how the experts graded the Celtics’ four trades from last week:
ESPN broke down the trades individually, starting with the Vucevic deal then the ones where the C’s shed salary. ESPN was more critical when it came to acquiring Vucevic from the Bulls, though the salary-cutting moves got good marks.
On Vucevic trade: “I’m not convinced Vucevic is enough of an improvement in the frontcourt to be worth downgrading in the backcourt, but if the Celtics can find a replacement for Simons on the buyout market, that plus the savings probably made this a trade worth doing.”
On the three other trades: “The creative way Boston is managing its cap has a precedent back in 2022, when the team dropped down to 10 players by virtue of trading away seven for two on deadline day. Avoiding the tax that season meant the Celtics were not repeaters in 2024-25, saving them more than $20 million in luxury tax payments.
“Getting out of the tax now keeps Boston from paying the repeater tax in 2026-27, which could facilitate adding payroll for a full season with a healthy Jayson Tatum after his return from an Achilles rupture.”
Grade for Vucevic trade: C
Grade for Boucher, Minott and Tillman trades: A
Bleacher Report was impressed by the Celtics’ salary cap maneuvers to get under the luxury tax. They also liked the Vucevic deal for shoring up the center rotation even if it meant losing Simons in the backcourt.
“After some massive salary offloading this past offseason, the Boston Celtics used the deadline to get completely out of the luxury tax while still upgrading their weakest position. Not bad for a team that has shocked the NBA with a third-place spot in the East.”
Grade for overall deadline: B+
Yahoo didn’t have a ton to add other than the Celtics made some savvy moves with the cap.
“The Celtics made a cost-cutting trade, and upgraded their center position at the same time. That’s a good bit of business there, even if financially motivated trades are generally uninteresting to fans.”
Grade for overall deadline: B