Four Buyout Candidates Celtics Can Target After NBA Trade Deadline

The Boston Celtics — as expected — weren’t among the dozens of teams scrambling like ants during the closing hours of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline.

“In our situation with our team this year, today was boring as hell,” president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told reporters after the deadline, per CLNS Media. “Like it was just like, ‘Nah, there’s nothing we can do.’ There wasn’t going to be anything going on, and the phones didn’t ring. We had already had any discussions we were probably gonna have and we just weren’t going to do anything major. Because at the end of the day, even through our ups and downs in the last six weeks, what gives us the best chance of having a chance to win? And that is this group playing a little bit more like itself more of the time.”

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Boston traded guard Jaden Springer along with its 2030 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets, which reduced the team’s tax penalty from $65.6 million to $50.2 million. But that was the extent of the organization’s activity while the rest of the league shuffled piece after piece, trading stars like Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler and Brandon Ingram within a matter of five days before the clock hit 3 p.m. ET.

There wasn’t much the Celtics could’ve explored, certainly not to the degree of the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs. Boston locked its entire starting lineup — Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White — into multi-year extensions in the past two years, totaling over $900 million in combined contracts. That doesn’t mean Stevens and the front office had zero options, but they weren’t nearly as extensive as those every other team could consider.

It also doesn’t mean that the Celtics can’t add to their roster and fill the seat left vacant in Springer’s departure with a new face either. Teams have already begun waiving trade deadline acquisitions left and right, giving everyone, including the reigning champion Celtics, a chance to scoop a veteran or two from the buyout market.

“I think the first thing that we’ll look to do is bring in a wing,” Stevens revealed.

Here are four buyout candidates Stevens and the Celtics could consider:

Daniel Theis
Boston welcomed Theis back before, acquiring the 32-year-old in a trade with Houston three years ago to mark his second stint with the team.

The New Orleans Pelicans traded Theis to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the Western Conference leaders waived the veteran center shortly after. That means the Celtics could re-welcome Theis back for a third time, and the reunion would make sense. With Porzingis having returned from offseason surgery and Al Horford unable to play in back-to-backs, the team’s depth could use some front-court depth.

Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman Sr. haven’t gotten the job done. Theis, however, is familiar with the team and coaching staff. The 6-foot-8 big man averaged 4.3 points and 4.3 rebounds, playing a limited 16.3 minutes across 38 games with the Pelicans.

Mo Bamba
If the Celtics want to get a little more creative and welcome a true fresh face, perhaps Bamba is the team’s best center option.

Bamba averaged 4.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.3 blocks across 28 games with the Los Angeles Clippers before getting traded to the Utah Jazz. The 26-year-old was soon after waived by Utah, per a team-provided announcement, which gives Bamba a chance at a clean slate to contribute and deliver meaningful minutes to the Celtics.

He’s also a career 35.7% shooter from 3-point range, so Bamba could earn plenty of brownie points in head coach Joe Mazzulla’s system, right?

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Reggie Jackson
There aren’t many crafty, play-making guards up for grabs who meet Boston’s budget, however, Jackson remains an interesting option nonetheless.

The Boston College product and 14-year veteran averaged 4.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists, shooting 33.9% from the field in 31 games with the Philadelphia 76ers. Boston got a snippet of what an established guard could do alongside Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and the Celtics reserves when Lonnie Walker IV spent the preseason with them.

Jackson, last season, averaged 10.2 points coming off the bench for the Denver Nuggets.

P. J. Tucker
Having a physical dirt dog can’t be underappreciated for any team, especially those in contention of hoisting — or defending — the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Tucker has spent his entire 13-year career building a reputation as a fearless, imposing force that’s willing to go the extra mile. The 39-year-old has accumulated 104 games of playoff experience and was teammates with Celtics guard Jrue Holiday on the 2021 champion Milwaukee Bucks four years ago.

He’s averaged 6.6 points and has shot 36.6% from three throughout his career.