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Jaden Springer Joins Jazz On 10-Day Deal

February 20th, 2025 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

February 20: Springer’s 10-day contract with Utah is official, the team announced in a press release.

February 19: The Jazz and free agent guard Jaden Springer have reached an agreement on a 10-day contract, agent Chad Speck tells Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Springer was drafted 28th overall out of Tennessee by the Sixers in 2021 and spent his first two-and-a-half NBA seasons in Philadelphia before being sent to Boston at the 2024 trade deadline in exchange for a second-round pick.

The 6’4″ guard won a title with the Celtics and was still on their roster to open the 2024/25 season, but was dealt to Houston along with a second-round pick earlier this month in a salary-dump deal. The Rockets subsequently waived him.

Springer never emerged as a consistent, reliable rotation player in either Philadelphia or Boston, having averaged just 2.7 points and 1.3 rebounds in 8.0 minutes per game across 93 total appearances (four starts) for the two teams. Still, he’s just 22 years old and is a talented point-of-attack defender, making him a worthwhile flier for a lottery-bound team like Utah.

The Jazz have been carrying just 14 players on standard contracts since cutting Josh Richardson shortly after this month’s trade deadline, so they won’t need to waive anyone to make room on their roster for Springer.

Springer will earn $124,288 on his 10-day deal, while Utah carries a cap hit of $119,972. Assuming the contract is officially signed on Wednesday or Thursday, it will cover the Jazz’s next five games.

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Celtics Notes: Craig, Springer, Stevens, Porzingis, Holiday

February 8th, 2025 at 7:54pm CST by Arthur Hill

Torrey Craig chose to sign with the Celtics because they’ll give him a chance to compete for a title, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. The 34-year-old forward became a free agent when Chicago needed to trim two players off its roster to complete a three-team trade this week. He wasn’t on the open market very long before reaching an agreement with Boston that became official this morning.

“As a competitor in the league, you always want to play for something and compete for something,” Craig said. “I’m a super competitor and I want to play basketball the right way at the highest level. Just to get an opportunity to come play with these guys was like a no-brainer.”

Craig, who has been out of action since December 30 with a sprained right ankle, told Terada that he’s feeling good, but he’s taking his return day by day. He’s trying to learn all he can about how the Celtics operate, and that process started with a quick tour of the facilities on Friday before accompanying the team on a flight for tonight’s game at New York.

Craig knows he may not have a large role with the defending champs, but he provides veteran wing depth and gives them another capable three-point shooter.

“They’re a deep team, super talented,” he said. “Well-coached, well-disciplined. They play the right way. They know what it takes to win playing defense. Playing together and having each other’s backs. You can just see it. The team chemistry and they allow each other to feed off each other and play together and I think that’s why they’ve been so dominant these past couple years.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

  • Players were sad to lose Jaden Springer, who was traded to Houston on Thursday in a cost-cutting move, Terada adds in a separate story. The Rockets have already waived Springer, so he’ll be searching for his next job as a free agent. “Obviously, we’re gonna miss him,” Payton Pritchard said. “Jaden’s an unbelievable person. We loved him as a teammate. But hopefully he gets his opportunity and he can showcase what he’s capable of doing in this league. He’s an unbelievable player, unbelievable defender. I think there’s definitely a place for him in this league.”
  • The Celtics were otherwise quiet at the deadline, which is a combination of the restrictions they face as a second-apron team and the faith that president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has in the current roster, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Washburn reveals that Boston had interest in Hawks forward De’Andre Hunter, who was dealt to Cleveland, but wasn’t willing to part with Derrick White and draft assets to get involved in the bidding. “In our situation with our team this year, today was boring as hell,” Stevens said after the deadline. “It wasn’t going to be anything going and the phones didn’t ring. We had already had any discussions that we were going to have. We weren’t just going to do anything major because at the end of the day, even through our ups and downs through the last six weeks, what gives us our best chance to win is this group playing a little bit more like itself more of the time.”
  • Kristaps Porzingis was a late scratch for tonight’s game due to an illness, Terada tweets. Boston is also without Jrue Holiday, who’s missing his second straight contest with a bruised shoulder.
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Lakers Targeting Shooting Guard With Open Roster Spot?

February 7th, 2025 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Following an extremely active trade deadline which saw the Lakers acquire Luka Doncic and Mark Williams in separate deals, the team now has an open roster spot. Although Los Angeles isn’t in a rush to fill that vacancy, Jovan Buha of The Athletic reported on his live stream (YouTube link) that the Lakers seem to be leaning toward filling out their roster with another shooting guard.

“I’ve heard they’re going to be patient,” Buha said (hat tip to BasketNews.com). “They’re not in a rush to find that potential 15th player. They view the shooting guard spot as the current hole right now, so it seems that’s the type of guy they’re going to try to get.

“Just logically looking at the depth chart, they kind of have everything else. They don’t need a point guard, they have multiple wings that can play 30-plus minutes a night, they have a couple of centers. Looking at the roster and the layout of everything, they need another shooting guard, so I think that’s a direction they’re going to try to go.”

NBA insider Marc Stein reported on Thursday (via Twitter) that Lonnie Walker, who is currently playing for Lithuanian club Zalgris Kaunas, has an out clause in his contract and is a buyout candidate to monitor. According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, Walker has generated “considerable interest” from NBA teams (Twitter link).

Could a reunion with the Lakers be in the cards? Buha suggested (YouTube link) Walker’s defense might be a concern, and he’s not sure if he’s at the top of the team’s wish list. For what it’s worth, Josh Richardson, Jaden Springer, Seth Curry and Reggie Jackson were among the other players who were either brought up by Buha or asked about by fans.

“If they [Lakers] do add someone, it’s probably going to be a shooting guard, but maybe they end up just doing best player available and saying like, ‘Hey, we don’t love the shooting guard options. Let’s just get the best player.'”

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Hawks Trade Cody Zeller, Second-Rounder To Rockets

February 6th, 2025 at 11:10pm CST by Rory Maher

11:10 pm: The trade is official, according to press releases from the Hawks and Rockets. As expected, Houston waived Springer to complete the deal.

1:44 pm: The Hawks are trading veteran center Cody Zeller and Houston’s own 2028 second-round pick, which Atlanta controlled from a previous deal, to the Rockets, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

As ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets, Houston will acquire Zeller’s $3.5MM contract without having to send a player back in return by using a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception.

Kelly Iko of The Athletic hears (via Twitter) that Atlanta will acquire the draft rights to Alpha Kaba from Houston to complete the deal. The 29-year-old French forward was selected No. 60 overall back in 2017, but has spent his entire career overseas to this point.

It’s a straight salary-dump move for the Hawks, who will remain below the luxury tax line as a result of the deal. They were in danger of surpassing that threshold as a result of taking on additional salary in their De’Andre Hunter trade with Cleveland.

As for the Rockets, they’ll reacquire their own future second-rounder for taking on Zeller’s salary, which is non-guaranteed beyond 2024/25.

The No. 4 overall pick of the 2013 draft, Zeller spent his first eight NBA seasons in Charlotte before becoming a journeyman over the past handful of years, spending time with Portland, Miami and New Orleans from 2021-24.

The Pelicans re-signed Zeller last summer to use his contract for salary-matching purposes in the Dejounte Murray trade — he has yet to play a game for the Hawks in ’24/25, having been listed as away from the team for personal reasons for much of the season.

Considering he hasn’t played at all this season and the Rockets already have three centers (Alperen Sengun, Steven Adams, Jock Landale), it wouldn’t be surprising if Houston decides to waive the 32-year-old big man in the coming days in order to open up a roster spot.

The Rockets will be waiving newly acquired Jaden Springer in order to finalize the trade, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle.

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Celtics Trade Jaden Springer, Second-Round Pick To Rockets

February 6th, 2025 at 10:54am CST by Luke Adams

FEBRUARY 6: The trade is official, the Celtics and Rockets announced today. In addition to the terms outlined below, Houston is also receiving a protected 2027 second-round pick.

Based on the draft assets Boston controlled, per RealGM, that ’27 second-rounder figures to be either the Trail Blazers’ or Pelicans’ pick (whichever is least favorable; top-55 protected). In other words, the Rockets will only get that pick if either Portland or New Orleans is among the NBA’s top five teams in 2026/27.

FEBRUARY 5: The Celtics have agreed to trade guard Jaden Springer and a 2030 second-round pick to the Rockets in a cost-cutting move, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, the two teams will also swap heavily-protected second-rounders. Kelly Iko of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Houston will send Boston a top-55 protected 2031 second-round selection.

A salary-dump deal involving Springer had long been anticipated for the defending champions, who had been operating well beyond the luxury tax line and had a projected end-of-season tax bill of about $65.6MM prior to this trade, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

Moving off Springer’s expiring $4.02MM contract will reduce that projected tax payment to approximately $50.2MM, per Marks, while also opening up a second spot on Boston’s 15-man roster. It doesn’t impact their tax apron position — they remain over the second apron.

Teams can’t carry fewer than 14 players for more than 14 days at a time, so the Celtics will have up to two weeks to re-add a 14th man once their deal with the Rockets is official. Signing a replacement for Springer will bump the team’s tax bill back up a little, but the newcomer figures to be on a prorated minimum-salary deal and will have a far more modest cap hit than Springer did, so the accompanying tax penalty won’t be substantial.

As for the Rockets, they entered the day with more than $10MM in breathing room below the luxury tax line, so absorbing Springer’s $4.02MM salary doesn’t materially change their cap situation. They also have an open spot on their 15-man roster, meaning no one will have to be waived to finalize the deal.

Houston doesn’t have any trade exceptions available, but they can use a portion of their mid-level exception to take on Springer’s salary without sending out a player for matching purposes.

Springer was the 28th overall pick in the 2021 draft, but never developed into a reliable rotation player for the Sixers and was traded to the Celtics at last season’s deadline. The 22-year-old played sparingly in Boston too, appearing in just 43 games over the past year and averaging 1.9 points and 1.0 rebound in 6.3 minutes per contest.

Although Springer will be eligible for restricted free agency at the end of his contract, he’s not expected to receive a qualifying offer. In fact, he may reach unrestricted free agency before season’s end — if the Rockets want to use their 15th roster spot on another player, he’ll likely be the odd man out.

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Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Horford, Tucker, Trade Deadline, Pritchard

February 1st, 2025 at 8:37pm CST by Arthur Hill

With everybody healthy for Friday’s game against New Orleans, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla tinkered with his closing lineup, according to to Souichi Terada of MassLive. Mazzulla rotated his centers in the final minutes of the two-point victory, using Kristaps Porzingis when Boston had the ball and Al Horford when the team was on defense.

“Just different looks,” Mazzulla explained. “We need to play different ways, different coverages. Give them different ones. We just needed to change the matchup and give them a different coverage, looking to take away the three and so just kind of do that.”

Terada notes that Porzingis played well defensively, collecting three steals and four blocks. However, Mazzulla opted to use Horford in key defensive possessions because he’s more effective in closing out on perimeter shooters.

“For me, nothing changed,” Porzingis said. “We trust Al and he comes in for defense and when my name gets called, I’m always ready. Nothing changed.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

  • P.J. Tucker could wind up being an option on the buyout market after today’s Clippers-Jazz trade, Terada suggests in a separate story. Tucker hasn’t played yet this season, but he’s a tough defender with a lot of playoff experience. As a second apron team, the Celtics are limited in the buyout candidates they can pursue, but they’re eligible to sign Tucker because his $11.5MM salary is below the $12.8MM mid-level exception. Boston has kept a roster spot open since the start of the season.
  • In a mailbag column, Brian Robb of MassLive puts the chances of a Celtics trade by the deadline at 95%. Robb says it’s possible the team could move Jaden Springer to reduce its luxury tax bill, even though he’s been an important contributor lately. Beyond that, Robb sees a need to upgrade from Springer, Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman on the wing, as well as Xavier Tillman in the frontcourt.
  • Payton Pritchard has become famous for his success on long-distance shots at the end of quarters, but he’s proving there’s a lot more to his game than that, writes Baxter Holmes of ESPN. Holmes examines how Pritchard has been able to work his way up from a little-used reserve to become a point of emphasis for opposing coaches on a team filled with stars. “Every day, I’m trying to prove that I can still reach another level,” he said. “I can still show people what I’m trying to become. That’s why I’m always challenging the best that we have — like Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum). I’m trying to become as good as them one day. That’s why I challenge them. I’m trying to keep taking steps to better myself, which, at the end of the day, is only going to better our team.”
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Atlantic Notes: Springer, Brown, Raptors Trade Prospects, Johnson

January 23rd, 2025 at 10:56am CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics guard Jaden Springer is considered a prime trade candidate for a team looking to reduce its luxury tax bill. Springer may have enhanced his value with a rare chance to play extended minutes against the Clippers on Wednesday. He had six points and tied a career-high with four steals in a season-high 20 minutes, Brian Robb of Masslive.com notes.

“He’s just got an innate skill to impact the game with his physicality, his defense, and I thought that’s what the game needed at the time,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think it’s one of the best things you can do in this league is to just deliver when your name is called, regardless of when it is. So it’s a credit to him and the work ethic that he has. I thought it was his defense, his physicality, his presence changed the game for us.”

Springer, who is making $4MM, will be eligible for restricted free agency after this season, though at this point he seems unlikely to earn a qualifying offer.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

  • Celtics wing Jaylen Brown is battling through an ankle injury, among other ailments, Robb writes. “Just pushing through,” Brown said. “I think this is definitely the rougher part, physically, during the season. I got some injuries and things like that. But I try to make myself available every night. I’ll make no excuses. But it is what it is. I’m a little beat up. But I’ll be ready tomorrow.” Boston is in the midst of a stretch in which it plays 10 games in 17 days.
  • The Raptors are well positioned to garner some assets prior to the trade deadline, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet. They are $10MM below the luxury tax line and haven’t used their mid-level exception. They have made it known they’re willing to facilitate trades and there doesn’t appear to be any players beyond Scottie Barnes and Gradey Dick that they consider untouchable. We passed along a few more Raptors-related notes and rumors earlier today.
  • Cameron Johnson is trying to tune out all the trade chatter surrounding him, as he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “Keep my head down. I just try to emotionally disconnect from that,” the Nets forward said. “I have to, for the sake of myself, and invest all that energy into the present and to the team that we have. No matter what happens, the Nets have invested a lot of resources in trying to make me a better player. So my job is to compete for the city, for this team, for this organization, for my teammates.” Johnson has missed eight of the last 11 games due to an ankle injury.
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Trade Rumors: Johnson, Claxton, Butler, Suns, Raptors, Sixers

January 17th, 2025 at 11:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets forward Cameron Johnson is considered one of the most players most likely to be moved at this year’s trade deadline, and people around the NBA believe Brooklyn will be open to listening on center Nic Claxton as well, according to Tim Bontemps and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

However, at least one league executive who spoke to ESPN pointed out that Johnson’s and Claxton’s multiyear contracts mean the Nets won’t necessarily be operating with any sense of urgency on the trade market, even with the franchise focused on maximizing its odds in the 2025 draft lottery.

“The Nets asking price is high, and they (have made) it known they don’t feel like they have to trade them now,” that exec said. “But if they’re helping them win games, they’ll trade them or put them on the bench.”

Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas, Trail Blazers big man Robert Williams, and Celtics guard Jaden Springer were some of the other players mentioned as likely trade candidates by sources who spoke to Bontemps and Windhorst. Valanciunas and Williams are veterans who aren’t believed to be part of their rebuilding teams’ long-term plans, while moving Springer could reduce Boston’s end-of-season luxury tax bill.

Here are a few more trade-related notes and rumors from across the league:

  • Discussing Jimmy Butler‘s trade market, an executive who spoke to ESPN made it clear that Pat Riley and the Heat are fully prepared to take their time as they consider all their options. “The Heat don’t have to make a deal with Jimmy until the summer and don’t have to make a decision about the rest of this season until Feb. 6,” the exec said. “They don’t need to do anything in January and that’s how they’re conducting business.”
  • League sources tell Windhorst that the Suns have discussed using their remaining tradable first-round pick (for 2031) in “various talks around trying to acquire Butler.” Responding to that report, Suns insider John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 stated (via Twitter) that Phoenix hasn’t talked to the Heat about that 2031 pick and wouldn’t want to part with it in a straight-up trade for Butler. While that first-rounder would certainly be extremely valuable if it’s unprotected, it’s hard to see how the Suns could acquire Butler without giving it up — and even if the Suns are willing to move the pick, it’s unclear if that would be enough, given that it would come attached to Bradley Beal‘s unwieldy contract.
  • The Raptors appear to have some interest in getting involved in a potential Butler trade as a facilitator, writes Doug Smith of The Toronto Star. When I considered Butler trade scenarios in a Front Office article earlier this month, I noted that Toronto makes sense as a possible third team due to the relatively favorable expiring contracts on the team’s books, including Bruce Brown ($23MM) and Chris Boucher ($10.8MM). If they’re incentivized to do so, the Raptors could potentially take on multiyear contracts and flip those expiring deals to Miami.
  • For now, the Sixers continue to focus on maximizing their potential for the current season, according to Bontemps. However, he acknowledges that stance could change depending on how the next two or three weeks play out. Philadelphia has a 15-24 record, will be without Joel Embiid for at least the next week, and will send its 2025 first-round pick to Oklahoma City if it lands outside the top six.
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And-Ones: Cousins, All-Star Voting, 2025 Draft, More

January 10th, 2025 at 7:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Four-time NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins hasn’t played in the league since finishing the 2021/22 season with Denver, but he continues to compete professionally in non-NBA leagues around the world. The 34-year-old center is joining Selenge Bodons in Mongolia, according to announcements from the club on Instagram and Cousins on Facebook.

The No. 5 overall pick in the 2010 draft, Cousins averaged 19.6 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in 654 regular season appearances for seven NBA teams from 2010-22. Cousins’ career was derailed by a series of major leg injuries, including a torn ACL and torn Achilles, which reduced his effectiveness on both ends of the court in his later NBA seasons.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

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Celtics Notes: Mazzulla, Tatum, Porzingis, Springer

December 26th, 2024 at 10:58am CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics still may have the best roster in the league, but they haven’t looked like the defending champions for the past two weeks, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Boston is 3-4 in its last seven games, including losses against the sub-.500 Bulls and the short-handed Magic. Coach Joe Mazzulla was candid about his team’s recent play after falling to Philadelphia on Wednesday.

“We’re playing inconsistent basketball, so we’ve got to be better at both ends of the floor,” he said. “Got to be more consistent at both ends of the floor.”

The Celtics are second in the East and third in the NBA with a 22-8 record, but Robb notes that their schedule is about to get much more challenging. There are limited off days and a few back-to-backs coming up over the next three weeks, which could be taxing for a veteran roster and provides little opportunity for practice time.

“We’ve got to be better,” Jayson Tatum said. “It’s still a long season. Nobody’s panicking. We’ve got to navigate the emotional roller coaster of the NBA season. It feels a lot worse than it actually is. We’re not panicking or anything. We’ve just got to man up and look in the mirror and figure out some things that we’ve got to do better at. Everybody’s fully capable, and we’ve always done a really good job of responding, and I have no doubt that we will. So I’m not panicking, but we’ve got to be better, and we will.”

There’s more from Boston:

  • Tatum provided an explanation of the illness that made him a late scratch for Monday’s game against Orlando, Robb adds in a separate story. He described it as a “a 24-hour, 48-hour bug” that began to affect him after warmups. He was still feeling some effects from the virus on Wednesday, even though he managed to post 32 points and 15 rebounds in 41 minutes. “Maybe a little fatigued, I guess, from being sick the last few days, but I’m just trying to push through it, catch my second wind, things like that,” Tatum said.
  • The Celtics weren’t able to provide much information on a left ankle injury that sidelined Kristaps Porzingis for the second half of Wednesday’s game, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. Porzingis seemed to tweak the ankle early in the contest, but he was able to keep playing before having his status downgraded at halftime. “I noticed that he played through it,” Mazzulla told reporters after the game. “I asked him how he was. He said he was okay and then he got re-evaluated at halftime. But I haven’t heard anything.” Porzingis didn’t talk to reporters, but Terada observed that he didn’t seem to have much protection on the ankle in the locker room.
  • Jaden Springer hasn’t played much since the Celtics acquired him in a February trade, but the fourth-year shooting guard tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe that being in Boston has been a good learning experience. “I’ve grown a lot,” Springer said. “Coming to a different organization you get to see a different way of basketball. Everyone plays a different style, so coming here you learn new things, pick up on new styles of play, and playing behind another great group of guys. (Jaylen Brown), (Tatum), Jrue (Holiday), Derrick White, (Porzingis), Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, a bunch of guys. So being able to learn from them and watch them every night, it’s been pretty big for me.” 
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