Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Celtics are trading Jaden Springer and their 2030 second round pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange for a heavily protected second round pick.

Springer is essentially traded to Houston as a salary dump to get his $4 million contract off of the books for Boston. Springer was looked at to be one of the only legitimate tradable contracts for the Celtics at this trade season and could have been used to get another piece in return. Sadly, this is not the reality of the situation, but this could mean Brad Stevens has more moves up his sleeve before the deadline tomorrow at 3 pm.

According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, this means the Celtics now have two open roster spots and reduce their tax penalty by $15.4 million. With an open roster spot, Boston is set up to be a potential player in the buyout market this year if they are looking to sign a guy who gets waived by a team out of the playoff race.

Trade impact: Boston/HoustonCelticsTax penalty: $65.6M to $50.2M2 open roster spotsRocketsJaden Springer: $4M, RFA 2025

The Rockets are acquiring Springer with part of their $12.8M non-tax ML

— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 5, 2025

Jaden Springer ends his Celtics career with a NBA championship and averages of 1.9 points, 1.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists, and 0.5 steals in 43 games played. He had come on of late with impact minutes as a lockdown defender and catch-and-shoot three-point shooter over the last few weeks.

Thank you for everything, Jaden. Good luck in Houston!