NBA Rumors: Celtics Guard Traded This Season Lands With New Team

It took nearly two weeks after the Boston Celtics traded Jaden Springer for the guard to find a new team.

Springer finally landed on his feet Wednesday when ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Springer agreed to a 10-day contract with the Utah Jazz,

The Celtics dealt away Springer and a 2030 second-round pick a day prior to the NBA trade deadline to the Houston Rockets in a move to dump salary and get some financial relief on their luxury tax bill — Boston saved about $15 million in tax penalties by offloading Springer.

The Rockets didn’t hang on to Springer for long, though. Houston waived Springer the day following the trade to create room on the roster for Cody Zeller, who the Rockets acquired from the Atlanta Hawks.

It’s interesting that a team with heavy Celtics ties — Danny Ainge is the CEO of basketball operations for the Jazz and Will Hardy is the head coach — decided to pick up Springer. But landing with the Jazz isn’t a permanent solution at the moment for the 22-year-old guard.

The 10-day contract is basically like a tryout for Springer, giving him a chance to showcase his skills. He should get plenty of opportunity for the lowly Jazz, who own the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 13-41.

Springer, who Boston acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers at last year’s trade deadline for a second-round pick, played minimally in 26 games for the Celtics this season. He did flash just a couple of weeks before the deadline when his defense and energy off the bench propelled the Celtics to an overtime win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Springer will now try to make that impact with the Jazz. And there’s a possibility Springer will face his former team this season when Utah visits Boston on March 10. The two sides meet again in Utah on March 21.