For many fans of the Boston Celtics and NBA, one of the most engaging aspects of their fandom is the novelty of the trade, a breath of fresh air into the structure of the team they follow laden with the promise of potential. But that novelty occurs in the context of a human cost, the cost of the families of those players who need to move to a new city or be away from that player for large chunks of the league calendar, for one.

And among the players themselves, the ties they build on the court and off it also get strained, those friendships forged in common cause disrupted, at least in terms of being teammates. To that end, Celtics point guard Derrick White opened up about how Boston swapping Anfernee Simons for Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic and moving on from Xavier Tillman Sr., Chris Boucher, and Josh Minott at the 2026 NBA trade deadline impacted him on a recent episode of his “White Noise” podcast.

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“(Tillman) has been here for a few years, (we) won a championship with him,” said the University of Colorado – Boulder alum.

Nov 23, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) is congratulated by guard Derrick White (9) after a basket during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Nov 23, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Anfernee Simons (4) is congratulated by guard Derrick White (9) after a basket during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

“Great guy, great attitude,” continued White. “He’s always been uplifting, supporting even if he didn’t play, so I’ve got a lot of respect for him.”

“(Simons) comes in and doesn’t know his role, trying to figure it out and just bought into everything we asked him to do. And (he) was unbelievable for us and especially these last like few weeks, helped us win a lot of games and he’s the only guy I’ve got a lot of respect for that just comes in and just does what he needs to do. It’s tough to see him go. And then obviously, Josh (Minott), Chris (Boucher).”

“(…) Just came in, too, like, this first year, and those are guys that you spend time with in a locker room, you’re having a great time with them and so you just wish them the best luck in their next city,” he added.

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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Derrick White on human side of trade deadline for Celtics