Brad Stevens Explains Why Celtics Traded For Derrick White At Deadline

Brad Stevens before the season spoke about the importance of adding players who accentuate the Boston Celtics’ franchise cornerstones, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

The Celtics president of basketball operations acted on that philosophy Thursday, swinging a deal with the San Antonio Spurs to land Derrick White before the NBA trade deadline.

“We’ve thought for years that Derrick was a really good fit with our best players,” Stevens told reporters Friday during a video conference call, per ESPN.com. “He is an excellent defender. He just makes the right play on offense over and over and over. He’s a guy that only cares about winning, that will do all of the little things, as you can see in some of his stats, defensively, with regard to willingness to put his body on the line, activity, shot challenges, all of those things. And on offense, just by making simple plays and doesn’t need to do anything to be on the highlights to really, really impact winning.

“We felt really fortunate to be able to get a guy like that on a long contract that we think is, again, you know, a perfect fit for our best players.”

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The Celtics paid a steep price for White, trading Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a 2022 first-round draft pick and the right to swap first-rounders in 2028. The 27-year-old guard figures to help the Celtics now and in the future, though, as he’s under contract for the next three seasons at an average of $17.6 million per year.

Boston also brought back Daniel Theis in a separate trade with the Houston Rockets. That, too, required the Celtics to pay up, with Boston sending Dennis Schröder, Enes Freedom and Bruno Fernando to Houston. But Stevens believes the C’s now are better equipped for a “seven-game knockdown, drag-out playoff series” than they were before the deadline.

The Celtics entered Friday with a six-game winning streak. They own a 31-25 record, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.