It was a productive trade deadline for the Boston Celtics. That doesn't mean it wasn't painful, especially with the departures of Xavier Tillman Sr., a beloved locker room member who helped them win a championship, and Anfernee Simons. The latter did everything asked of him, earned praise from all corners of the organization, and evolved as a two-way player while sacrificing offensively.
As for what they gained, the ability to get below the luxury tax line creates considerable savings and flexibility. Furthermore, if they do so again next season, they will reset the repeater tax. That represents an important potential step in building future rosters around, ideally, a healthy Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
As for what Boston gained on the court, acquiring Nikola Vucevic, that was a topic Brad Stevens addressed at the start of his media availability at the Auerbach Center a day after the trade deadline.
Brad Stevens shares his outlook for Nikola Vucevic
The two-time All-Star arrives averaging 16.9 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 3.8 assists this season. He is knocking down 37.6 percent of the 4.5 threes he is hoisting.
The projection from this author is that he will come off the bench, backing up Neemias Queta, who is thriving as the Celtics' starting center.
What Vucevic's production highlights is that his impact primarily comes from his passing and ability to space the floor. Those are two areas Stevens was specifically asked about.
"First and foremost, that was a move done in large part to balance out our positional needs with, and it's a hard decision when you have to move a person like Ant, who's been so good, such a great teammate.
Thought we had a little bit more depth and opportunity at the guard to cover that," said the team's president of basketball operations. "And if we were able to get a big that did that, had a similar impact, from the standpoint of, you know, I guess, filling different statistical needs and gave us a little bit more insurance in case of any big depth issues, felt like that was the right thing to do.
"And Nikola is a good player. He's been a good player for a long time. Obviously, the shooting and scoring gets a lot of attention. The passing, as you mentioned, is a big factor for us, and it's something that we really like in bigs. And so, gives us, probably, another look. And I think our two guys that have played the majority of the minutes at that position have been outstanding. And so we're excited to have all three of them and see how it all fits together."