Brad Stevens regrets one of Danny Ainge’s final Boston Celtics trades
As Heavy’s Sean Deveney heard from an unnamed NBA executive, Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has regrets about one of the last trades his predecessor, Danny Ainge, made during the 2021 trade deadline — that being the swap that sent Daniel Theis and Javonte Green to the Bulls, Jeff Teague to the Magic, and Luke Kornet and Moritz Wagner to the Cs.
The reason didn’t revolve around Theis, who the team later re-acquired in a 2022 trade deadline deal before using the German center as a salary-matching piece in the Malcolm Brogdon trade. Instead, it had to do with Green, who like Semi Ojeleye, was the type of low-budget/high-value physical bench piece the Celtics currently lack.
“Brad (Stevens) always liked the guys like Semi Ojeleye and Javonte Green; he always regretted that they let Javonte go to get under the tax in that Daniel Theis deal (in 2021,)” the executive said.
Reaction at the time to the Boston Celtics trading away Javonte Green
While Green never averaged more than 4.2 points per game in his two seasons wearing Boston Celtics green — which happened to be his first two NBA seasons after spending the first portion of his career overseas before debuting at age 26 in the Association — he was an integral locker room presence due to his friendship with star Jayson Tatum.
Tatum called the March 25, 2021 trade of Green “tough” two days afterward.
“Didn’t see that coming,” Tatum said. “(Green’s someone) I’m super, super close with. Love having him around. So, that was tough for all of us, especially myself. Just someone I’ve gotten real close with as a friend. And, obviously, he helped us in the locker room and the times that he did get an opportunity. But, you know, I guess it’s just part of it.”
Green was linked to the Cs in trade rumors before the 2023 trade deadline but an arthroscopic debridement to remedy a bone bruise in his right knee in January wiped out most of his 2022-23 season, with the Radford product returning in late March.