The Celtics were quite busy ahead of Thursday's NBA trade deadline, when many thought Brad Stevens wouldn't make any other moves after swapping Anfernee Simons for Nikola Vučević with the Chicago Bulls this past Tuesday.
While the Simons for Vučević trade was made official by the team, it wasn't announced until the Celtics pulled off three other separate deals that sent Chris Boucher, Josh Minott and Xavier Tillman Jr. each to new teams in what were clearly money-saving moves.
Chris Boucher was the first shoe to drop, as the Celtics traded the veteran center to the Utah Jazz -- per ESPN's Sham Charania. The Jazz were also reportedly getting a Denver 2027 second-round pick for taking on Boucher's $2.3 million salary, as the organization plans to waive the nine-year big man.
Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe, reported that the Celtics also acquired two-way guard John Tonje from the Jazz as part of the Boucher deal.
The Celtics opened up a roster spot by moving on from Boucher, who initially signed with Boston on a one-year deal as a solution to the team's frontcourt depth needs, before he gradually fell out of Joe Mazzulla's rotation entirely. After logging in 16 minutes as the starting center on Opening Night, Boucher only made eight more appearances, which were scattered over the next three months -- averaging 2.3 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.3 assists.
While becoming more of a veteran locker room leader during his brief stint with the team, by trading Boucher it brought the Celtics to $3.6 million above the luxury-tax threshold and it gives Mazzulla a chance to explore much more deserving minutes for centers Luka Garza, rookie Amari Williams, and newly acquired Vučević.
Stevens followed up his first move Thursday by trading Josh Minott to the Brooklyn Nets -- according to insider Shams Charania once again.
Appearing in 33 of the Celtics 51 games, which included 10 starts, Minott averaged 5.8 points and 3.6 rebounds, while shooting 50.7% from the field and 44.2% from 3-point range in 16 minutes per contest. At times it seemed like the 23-year-old would become a crucial part of the rotation, but from mid-December on he didn't see the floor much and spent most of January recovering from an ankle sprain.
The trade of Minott opened up another roster spot and also provided the Celtics with more significant tax relief, as the team was only over the luxury-tax line by $1.7 million.
Just when the clock struck 3:00 pm ET Thursday and it was thought that the Celtics were done dealing, 'Trader Stevens' made his last and arguably most clever move of the afternoon when the trade of Xavier Tillman to the Charlotte Hornets was reported by Shams Charania just after 4:00 pm ET -- an hour well past the NBA trade deadline -- to not only duck the luxury-tax entirely, but they also received $3.5 million in return.
Tillman, who was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies at the trade deadline two years ago, just months ahead of the 2024 championship, had become a vocal leader in the locker room and a veteran presence despite not being in Mazzulla's rotation. He appeared in only 14 games for the Celtics this season, averaging 2.2 points in 7.9 minutes.
While Stevens' moves made during an eventful trade deadline may not being classified as "fireworks," the Celtics opened up rosters spots that will need to filled within the next several weeks whether it be internally by converting two-way deals into standard NBA contracts or look to the buyout market. More importantly, these moves give the C's financial flexibility by saving a reported $325 million, got out of both aprons and avoided a luxury tax bill -- as they look to build towards another potential championship roster around their already established stars of Jaylen Brown and of course Jayson Tatum.
Joel Pavón
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