Are the Boston Celtics trade deadline winners or losers?

President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, was certainly active in his first trade deadline for the Boston Celtics, completing a total of three deals on the day.

While many originally expected the team to simply get under the luxury tax threshold due to ownership’s wishes, they wound up doing that and more, attempting to improve their team by adding both Derrick White and Daniel Theis.

In doing this, they parted with a number of rotational players, including Josh Richardson, Dennis Schroder, and Romeo Langford, along with a future first-round pick and a pick swap in 2028.

The front office used both those picks in the acquisition of White, as they obviously believe him to be a difference-maker on this current iteration of the Celtics.

Did the Boston Celtics win the trade deadline?

The Boston Celtics gave up more draft capital this year than almost any other trade deadline under Danny Ainge. This drastic change cites a difference in philosophy between Ainge and Stevens, one that is welcomed by many.

That was one of the main criticisms of Ainge’s tenure — although he made a living by fleecing teams and getting excessive draft picks back in return, he struggled to capitalize on those advantages, holding onto them for too long.

Some of those picks ended up not contributing to winning basketball in Boston, whereas he could have used them to acquire veteran depth at the deadline.

Instead, Stevens bit the bullet, using two major assets, along with a productive veteran in Richardson and a flyer in Langford, to acquire Derrick White.

The 23-year-old White is in the first year of his 4-year, $70 million extension with San Antonio. This provides the Boston Celtics with lots of control on the established guard, making him a core piece for the future around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

On the court, White fits in nicely as both a backcourt mate to Marcus Smart as well as a traditional sixth-man to run the second unit.

He’s averaged 5.6 assists per game this year in just over 30 minutes a night, all while playing next to All-Star point guard, Dejounte Murray. On the defensive end, he is set to excel in coach Ime Udoka’s scheme as one of the best perimeter on-ball defenders in the entire league.

A potential closing lineup of Smart, White, Brown, Tatum, and Robert Williams has no weak links on the defensive end, as they’re all able to switch freely one through four against any potential opposition.

On the offensive end, he’s able to act as a connecting piece, keeping the ball moving throughout the possession. He has shown the ability to play both on and off the ball, something that Schroder struggled with throughout his tenure in green.

It’s fair to be concerned about his shooting, only supporting a 31.4 percent clip from downtown this season, but he has averaged around 34 percent from that same distance throughout his career.

Expect for him to thrive in catch-and-shoot scenarios while playing with the Jays, as they draw much more attention from opposing defenses than any Spur can.

As for the reunion of Daniel Theis, this is a move that many fans (us included) have been keeping an eye out for in previous weeks. He’s simply an immense upgrade over the tandem of Enes Freedom and Bruno Fernando in the backup center role, as both were sent back to Houston in the deal.

Theis has similarly struggled from distance since he left Beantown, but he won’t be asked to do too much on the offensive end anyway. A solid 15-17 minutes a night on the second unit will suffice, as he’s certainly a rotational level player on any team in the league.

He is also under contract for three more seasons after the conclusion of this campaign.

The Boston Celtics have the center position locked up for the future between Rob Williams and Theis, or, if they so choose, can easily move off from the latter’s contract, as he makes under $10 million a year.

Despite doing all of this, the C’s got under the tax, in part due to their first trade, a salary dump of P.J. Dozier and Bol Bol to the Orlando Magic.

Everyone would have loved to see Bol in Celtics green, but, realistically, the C’s traded two players who were injured for the season, set to hit free agency in the summer.

There was no benefit to keeping either of them.

All in all, it hurts to lose Richardson, as he was playing above expectations when they first traded for him in the offseason, but the additions of both White and Theis improve the roster as a whole.

They may have lost some depth in certain positions, but with 5(!) roster spots open to look for free agents or potential buyout candidates, the Boston Celtics have lots of roster flexibility for the rest of the 2021-22 season.

Brad Stevens made the C’s a winner in his first trade deadline at the helm.