Celtics reportedly trade Jaden Springer to Rockets for luxury-tax relief

Dealing Springer reportedly frees up nearly $15 million off of Boston's hefty luxury-tax bill.

Jaden Springer saw an uptick in minutes over the last few weeks with Boston. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

February 5, 2025

1 minute to read

Brad Stevens and the Celtics have reportedly pulled off a deal ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

But rather than bringing in talent to a win-now roster, Wednesday’s deal is seemingly centered around deflating some of Boston’s luxury-tax bill moving forward.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Celtics are trading guard Jared Springer and their 2030 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets — with both teams also swapping heavily protected second-round picks as part of the deal.

Springer — acquired by Boston ahead of last year’s trade deadline in a deal with the 76ers — was usually planted further down on Boston’s depth chart, averaging 6.3 minutes per game over 43 total games with the Celtics.

But the 22-year-old guard was starting to earn a greater role on Joe Mazzulla’s bench over the last month — headlined by an eight-point, four-steal performance off the bench that helped jolt Boston en route to an OT win over the Clippers on Jan. 22.

Even with Springer’s age and defensive upside, his ability to earn heavy reps in Boston was hindered by the presence of other guards in place like Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Payton Pritchard.

But beyond Springer’s limited reps, Boston’s hefty luxury-tax bill needed to be lessened — with ESPN’s Bobby Marks reporting that keeping Springer’s $4 million contract on the books would have cost the Celtics nearly $15 million as a result of repeater penalties related to the luxury tax.

Trade impact: Boston/Houston

Celtics

Tax penalty: $65.6M to $50.2M

2 open roster spots

Rockets

Jaden Springer: $4M, RFA 2025

The Rockets are acquiring Springer with part of their $12.8M non-tax ML
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 5, 2025

The Celtics now have two roster spots open after dealing Springer to Houston, with Stevens still having until 3 p.m. on Thursday to make another move before the deadline.