BOSTON -- The Celtics have made at least one deal ahead of every NBA trade deadline since Brad Stevens took over as president of basketball operations. But while Stevens kept that streak alive by sending Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, this deadline was a bit unlike the others for Boston.
"Our situation with our team this year -- today was boring as hell," Stevens told reporters at TD Garden on Thursday ahead of the Celtics' matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.
"There wasn't going to be anything going on," Stevens added. "The phones didn't ring; we had already had any discussions we were going to have, and we just weren't going to do anything major."
The Celtics' entire top nine remains intact from the squad that defeated Dallas in the 2024 NBA Finals and Boston already is deep in the luxury tax as a second apron team, so no major moves were expected ahead of Thursday's deadline. But as a practical matter, the C's have two open roster spots and need to fill at least one before the regular season ends.
Stevens said that should happen in the near future.
"We have 13 guys right now; we'll probably do something with the 14th (roster spot) relatively soon, and then take our time with the 15th and really assess our health and needs and those types of things as we go on," Stevens said. "Won't get into any particular players; I think all of our guys have done a great job. It will be more based on the needs of the Celtics."
Boston does have options on the buyout market, where players who were recently waived can be signed by teams before March 1. As a second apron team, the C's can't sign any player who was making more than $12.8 million this season prior to being waived, but there's a decent pool of players below that threshold -- and Stevens has a position in mind.
"I think the first thing that we'll look to do is bring in a wing," Stevens said when asked about the buyout market.
Among Stevens' options at wing are former Chicago Bulls veteran Torrey Craig and a pair of ex-Celtics in Lonnie Walker IV and Oshae Brissett, both of whom are currently playing overseas. The C's also could choose to give a two-way player like Drew Peterson a full-time NBA contract, like they did with big man Neemias Queta last season.
Any potential addition likely wouldn't move the needle much and would struggle to crack Boston's rotation, but that's the reality for a Celtics squad that simply needs its top nine to play to its full potential come playoff time.
"At the end of the day, even if there were ups and downs over the last six weeks, what gives us the best chance to win? That is this group playing a little bit more like itself more of the time," Stevens added.