How Boston Celtics Won NBA Trade Deadline Without Making a Move

The NBA trade deadline has passed and it was an active one to say the least, filled with high-impact, high profile moves. The activity started in earnest on Saturday when the Dallas Mavericks sent their superstar and heart of their team, 25-year-old Luka Dončić, to the Los Angeles Lakers for another All-NBA player, Anthony Davis.

Days later, in a highly anticipated deal that ended a monthlong drama in Miami, the Heat dealt their disgruntled, three-times-suspended forward Jimmy Butler to the Golden State Warriors for Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and a protected first-round draft pick.

Then there were the deals that did not happen — most notably a trade of future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant to the Warriors in a three-team deal that would have landed Butler with the Phoenix Suns.

That one fell through when Durant made it clear to Golden State — the team that brought him the only two championships of his career — that he had no interest in going back there. Durant does not have a no-trade clause in his contract, so the Warriors could have pursued the trade anyway. But they decided that they did not want a disgruntled superstar on their team.

They opted instead for Butler, who has been so disgruntled with every team he’s ever played for that he has now forced trades four times in his 14-year career.

Lakers Made Moves, But Celtics Win Big By Standing Back

Who won the trade deadline? There’s a good argument that the Lakers came out on top, not only adding Dončić to provide scoring alongside Lebron James but then picking up Charlotte Hornets big man Mark Williams to replace Davis. According to an analysis by SI.com, the Lakers may now have established themselves as legitimate competition for the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.

But the big winners of the NBA trade deadline may well be the team that did not make a single significant move — the reigning NBA Champion Boston Celtics. With several moves made by their Eastern Conference competitors, the Celtics now find themselves with what looks like a much easier path to a repeat trip to the NBA Finals than they had just three days ago.

The Miami Heat have been Boston’s most heated postseason rivals over the past several years, and Butler has been a central reason why. The Butler-lead Heat have eliminated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals two times — in 2020 and 2023 — and in 2022 the Heat came one Butler missed three pointer with 12 seconds to go in Game Seven from knocking Boston out again.

Now, Butler is gone from the Eastern Conference altogether. Unless the Celtics face the Warriors in a rematch of the 2022 NBA Finals, they will not need to worry about contending with him in the postseason.

Saying Goodbye to Notorious Celtics Killer

Another renowned “Celtics killer,” Caleb Martin, also departed the conference. Martin, while primarily a bench player, has long raised his game against the Celtics. His three-point shooting percentage against Boston is 14.2 percentage points higher than against all other teams. When the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Celtics on Christmas Day, Martin shot over 50 percent from the field for the fifth time against the Celtics. He has never accomplished that feat more than once against any other team.

But on Tuesday, the ‘Sixers dealt Martin to the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, taking him out of the East playoff picture as well.

Finally, former Milwaukee Bucks small forward Khris Middleton has a career 45 percent shooting percentage against Boston with a points-per-game average of 15.4. He stays in the Eastern Conference after the Bucks traded him. But Middleton ended up with the Washington Wizards, the team with the worst record in the NBA at 9-41.

The Celtics will not be facing Middleton in the postseason either.

The Celtics’ only trade was to send bench guard Jaden Springer to the Houston Rockets in a move designed solely to dump salary. The trade reportedly saves the Celtics about $15 million on their luxury tax total. The Rockets quickly released Springer, allowing him to become a free agent, but under NBA rules the Celtics are not permitted to to reacquire him.

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