Celtics acquire Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer at NBA trade deadline

Celtics acquire Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer at NBA trade deadline

But let’s get into what the Celtics did do and take a look at bringing the heat brought to you by Eastern Propane and oil they are in your neighborhood and we already knew about Xavier Tillman because of Celtics and Brad Stevens trading for him yesterday a 25-year-old

Who you know front Court player who’s got some defensive versatility today they went out and they got Jaden Springer who was acquired from the 76ers who was taken late in the first round a couple years ago Celtics uh also giving up Delano Banton to uh Portland so still

You got a roster spot available we’ll talk more about that roster spot in just a bit but let’s dive into it now with Chris forsberg and scout scout I’ll start with you overall your thoughts on what this Celtics did at the trade thead line including yesterday so starting

With Tillman I think if you look at our team and you say whether it’s the second half of the year and I think Chris you did a great job of explaining this the other day second half of the year you know if if Al Horford wants to miss a

Game if porzingis Miss a game if both those guys happen to be out I think Tillman provides that also if you look last year tman had a decent playoff against against the Lakers like he was not scared of Anthony Davis I thought he played big I thought he played with

Energy as great size so I’m good with the tman thing if if you’re looking at a small sample size in the regular season and I can count on him in the playoff if a guy Wass to get hurt I do believe there’s still a weakness of ours with

That I I still think I would like to have another guy that another big that that we can handle that position but that could be talked about in the buyout and we’ll get it get into that Jaden Springer freak of nature I’m not sure sure if he’s ready now sometimes when

Guys come to Boston all of a sudden like their shot gets better and and their their game gets better the spacing is better maybe uh Springer will be a guy that like we know that he’s really good he had a really good preseason he could

Jump out the jym head way Above the Rim like he definitely was deserving of being a first-round draft pick so are they going to figure that out are the Celtics can make him into a player that can that can help out right now I know

He can guard I know he can move I know he can fly around but can he fit into the team those are things that we’ll figure out as the season kind of progresses the way I look at this challenge is that over the course of three moves they swapped out two players

Right like Lamar Stevens and Delano Banton were not playing big roles for this team I don’t know if Xavier Tillman and jayen Springer will play big roles moving forward I do think Tillman especially will have an opportunity over the course five back-to-backs remaining 27 games in like 52 days to the Finish

Line you’re going to need someone to help Pace your big men to the Finish Line they’re both offensively limited but I I think they can help defensively and they’re going to win the trust of Joe Missoula that way so we’ll see I I think part of this is for this year and

Some depth that you maybe can lean on more than you thought with Banton and Stevens and then you kind of roll it into the future where they’re going to have the opportunity to potentially look at these guys for deeper into the future and I do think it’s just it’s just

Adding a little bit more depth but as scal said we’ll get into this later I don’t know if there’s an obvious path to another big man or whatever with the buyout Market but still some steps to take here if the Celtics want to fill that last roster spot so as far as

Xavier tman and janen Springer go what what do they kind of offer as far as roster flexibility kind of moving forward because the other thing to this as well is that they they did give up players on their way out and they have they have that one spot open but you

Know everyone kind of brings up bird rights and sometimes kind of you’re getting in the weeds a little bit but what of these two players in particular with their contracts set up the way they are what does that mean for the Celtics and could this be more of a move that

Brad Stevens is looking at as you know for the future and not just for the stretch run here I think it’s it’s a little bit of both right you’re hopeful that they come in and they quickly and you can lean on them over the course of

The last 31 games here but if it’s for the longer future the Celtics don’t have a lot of avenues to add Talent they are a second apron team they’re spending big money Jaylen Brown’s contract kicks in next season they’re going to be committed you need lower cost players

That you hope emerge as rotation players the way I explain this is in a vacuum SEL this can’t go out and add anybody Beyond a minimum contract this off season what you can do now is with these guys in house you have bird rights for someone like Tilman you could sign them

To a fair number you can examine Springer and see how long you maybe you’d like to keep him around and so there are avenues for this to to to stretch longer into the future you’ve just added some flexibility whereas I don’t think Lamar Stevens and Delano

Banton would have been back next year I think I think Springer is what you call I don’t want to call cheap I don’t like the word cheap inexpensive laborer right I think that those guys I think him spring Springer in general like he has a first- round draft pick so his salary

Does go up but like I think they believe in him I don’t think they’re making a move for 21 role that they’re just making the Run making the choice for a run for the NBA Finals so I think that’s a short-term long term and I know you

Mentioned could they end up trading him in the future yeah probably like you always want good players so right now he had a great preseason he improved a ton since that first year when he was playing in the G league if the Celtics feel like there’s something there’s like

A like a lost Talent there well if they make him a better player then he becomes more valuable to other teams a guy you can throw in and a trade but he also is a guy if you feel like you you can get him moving forward maybe you can develop him

A little bit and maybe you believe in the guy so we’ll see all that when the game start to happen we’ll see how Joe moula uses him I’ll have an answer not from the front office but I’ll be able to see what the front office is thinking

By watching him play with this group and just I think it’s four million next year it’s a it’s a number that helps in in a lot of regards like whether it’s just lowc Cost or whether it’s you know potential trades but I do think they like it f former first round pick we’

Heard Brad talk a lot about you need guys like look at the way Miami Heat continuously develop guys so this is a way to get them when you don’t necessarily have the picks to go get them and it’s did I think I saw somewhere too you know with Philadelphia

Sam Cassel obviously being from there you know it spoke highly of Jaden Springer so there’s a connection there you can understand why you know he does he did I saw I saw no I saw that tweeted out I think it was by Philadelphia person got it okay from last year and

Say this kid is legit yeah cuz he also said Tyrese Maxi is legit before anybody else said that he’s legit so I mean I know Springers are free freak but he’s a freak of nature so if you have a live body he’s got good length any and he

Likes to defend he’s not one of these guys that it’s great athlete and just wants to dunk like he gets after it defensively guards the best player when he gets on the floor so I think there’s a lot to like there but you don’t know

Until you see it out there and you can see how he fits in with the way that we run offense recent games guarding Steph Curry guarding Luca like he’s not afraid of a challenge okay uh the other question here is too because I know that you know you guys have both mentioned

Alex Caruso as a name that You’ thrown out there for this trade deadline do you look at it and and I I know that you had hopes that that maybe they would go out there and add some some serious Firepower to this roster that they have

Right now do you feel like they did enough I because the other thing too is that it’s not like other teams went out there and made any major moves I mean I heard like this is the thing about the NBA that I didn’t like I don’t like it

And I and and this year’s trade deadline wasn’t as bad it’s like all these teams like the good teams are all like we got to do more to get better we got to do this we got to do that and all the teams that are an absolute train wreck SL

Dumpster fire are all like well I like what we got I’m cool right now Steve cerr just called his team this is a special group right here special group special group you had KD Steph Klay Thompson Draymond Green you won 73 games and this team’s a special group I’m done

With the low-level teams saying I’m cool I like where we’re at I’m really I like where we’re at now below 500 then we were at the beginning the season zero and zero like I don’t I don’t get it I just don’t get it what is the Bulls plan

I I don’t know that’s what I’m saying I don’t know I think Tom I think there’s a lot of people and I no disrespect I probably would do the same thing when I’m getting $6 million to guess wrong all the time right I I really think that

They’re like if I don’t make a move like if I let’s just say trade Alex kuso to the Boston Celtics and the ownership is just chilling around like all right we got to get rid of Caruso right like oh we got a first round draft pick and cruso is holding the championship trophy

Yeah yeah yeah I think the ownership is going to be like you know what fire him I don’t want to see the player that I signed that you couldn’t make work in Boston winning a championship so well obviously you’re making you’re making the point here it takes two to tangle

Here it takes two to make the trade yeah I think it’s them I think it’s all the dumpster fires they like the dumpster fires like it keeps them warm at night I don’t know I think that you brought it up the best way to phrase it no one else

In the league made a move that I sat there and said man I wish the Celtics had gotten involved in that so that tempers the idea that they should have done something Bolder there’s no move out there that I was like oh man I really wish they had kind of explored

That further no one was was moving quality players and so you did the best you could on the fringes how did the Warriors not trade a guy a $400 million payroll 400 million they’re going to find and they they’re out of the playing right now and they got a special group

400 million let them get one what are we doing what are we doing and then we like should should the Celtics do more no disrespect to your question that’s a good question but should we have done more no how about those dumpster fire teams should have done more they should

Have done more and then somehow they like put it on us like oh you really need our guy no you need to get rid of your guys like you guys are have you guys have problems no we got a special group like and no no disrespect to any

Of those guys I’m not trying to be mean to those guys but I don’t know when this shift happens like when did it happen like the bad teams used to say why don’t we just play young guys and get some picks and now these bad teams are like

Woo I like where we’re at I think we got a really good does it have something to do with the play in tournament right because you have more teams that are eligible the playoffs now so you have less teams that are you know set on on being sellers I don’t know maybe maybe

That’s the reason why and that there there’s there there’s real truth to that right like you can claim like we’re still in it okay I mean and then you’re going to play us and get smacked you’re be like dang it we should have traded our guys uh meanwhile there were some

Moves made in the Eastern Conference you saw the Bucks they they acquired Patrick Beverly from Philadelphia the Knicks got buam bogdanovich and Alec Burks from the Pistons and the winners over here they are the Sixers meanwhile they didn’t even give up any picks are we going to

Get into that later right now we’re doing it right now you want to talk about the Knicks go for it man because they they’re the biggest risers as well as far as the Eastern Conference odds go so what do you like about what the Knicks did and how how for real are they

Real deal because here’s the here’s the reality right they got what you call like a lot of different guys that can have a night now it is up to tibs to figure out what guy I’m going to use right because but you got to ride the

Hot hand we know Jaylen Brunson is the guy who’s delivered in the playoffs on the contrary to what all the WNBA players think this is the guy who’s delivered in the playoffs right but but Julie Randall up and down some of the other guys like Josh Hart up and down

Like like reason why they got qu R Quint and Grimes up and down so they’re looking for more consistency they don’t know if oan noi is going to deliver they they have they don’t know if he’s going to be a guy that that that makes that

That next step so if you get Five Guys that could score 20 on On Any Given night and you push the right buttons you could score enough tibs believes in his defense and I do too now that they made the trade for Oobi their defense has

Been the number one defense in the NBA so they’re just looking for more scoring outside of Jaylen Brunson and this could be the year that Julius Randle kind of breaks off breaks out of his playoff slump okay this could be the year that other guys have stepped up like oan noi

Shoots over 45% for three we don’t know but I know they have a lot of options and for the Knicks they didn’t they didn’t get rid of the opportunity that’s the scary part to to trade for a superstar they probably improved their opportunity to trade for a superstar in

The in the offseason good job by them and I’ve been killing their front office not the last two years but before that they’ve fig they they got they got the coach they got the right guy in place they did a good job this trade de are they the scariest in the East next

Behind Boston well I’m not scared of Boston we’re Boston what do you mean who’s who’s the scariest rival for Boston um Miami didn’t do anything anything so I would say I mean Knicks are good Cleveland’s good Indiana’s good I can’t cosign I can’t cosign Milwaukee I know

They got the start they don’t guard wow so I don’t know I mean all those teams are I don’t think Pat Beverly moves the needle all that much but look Beggars can’t be choosers so I do think it’s at least somebody that wants to play defense and I don’t know if that’s not

Going to fix them but it’s it’s at least somebody that’s going to try I still can’t get past like Giannis and Lillard like you can’t write them off but I’m with you like you watch it and you’re thinking man defensively they’re just not going to hold up in the playoffs and

So I I’m with you I wonder if the Knicks are just crawling a little bit closer I I’m not ready to put them who do you have right now bucks I’ll go Bucks and then Knicks I mean this is interesting because even a month ago you would have

Said Milwaukee and Philadelphia are in the top three and now now you might be saying that it’s the Knicks in Cleveland Cleveland didn’t do much it’s today it’s February like we got March and then April roll around and you know like Joel and be will get healthy and if he

Knocked out you know six games in a row of 30 points we say that guy right so it’s there it’s the Eastern Conference is Tough by the way no one ever talks about the two teams that no one talks about it’s amazing you know I do the national show it’s Cleveland and the

Clippers like like the Clippers are like sneaky the best team in the NBA right now over the last six weeks but no one talks about them and qu Leonard should be an MVP but somehow like on these uh the odds he’s like plus 10,000 but there’s a good chance he wins the MVP

This year so there’s just a lot of good teams that people don’t talk about Cleveland’s another one the addition of georgees sang and Max stru what I told you guys every going to be good then I admitted I was wrong because they weren’t good they actually became really

Good right now they’re like I think 9 and one over their or they’ lost they’ve won they hav been Health 14 of 15 and they’re getting guys back so like they’re they’re a really good team so but when we when we get closer to it and all the buyout stuff settles we’ll

Figure out an answer that’s what I need another month I need to see like where does Milwaukee settle in with Doc where does like New York wash out here and they’ll lose OG for a couple weeks here because of the cleanup he’s having and then we’ll see we then buy out Market

Know better let’s have this conversation in end of March about who’s the the real rival and who’s like to worry about by the way the Pacers made about 15 mov today too time we didn’t have time to get all of them Pacers did well they did

They did a really good job of upgrading their team all right uh what do we got tomorrow night Celtics back in Action taking on the Wizards the Friday night game at the Garden our cover starts at 6:30 p.m. with Celtics pregame live it is presented by TD Bank remember you can

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Brian Scalabrine and Chris Forsberg join Tom Giles on our NBA Trade Deadline Special to break down the C’s moves and discuss trades from around the league

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