Proposed 3-Team Trade Flips Derrick White For Former Top-3 Pick

As a retooling team, the Boston Celtics are prime candidates to make an in-season trade. Brad Stevens made multiple cost-cutting deals over the summer, and while those moves helped Boston duck under the second apron, there’s more work to be done if Stevens wants the team to get out of the luxury tax altogether.

A lot will depend on how much change Stevens is looking to make. The Celtics could avoid the luxury tax by moving Sam Hauser. However, if Boston wants to secure some high-upside assets for the future, then Derrick White or Jaylen Brown could find themselves being dangled in trade talks.

Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus recently proposed a three-team trade that would solve Boston’s tax problems while also landing them a promising young guard in Reed Sheppard. The catch? The Celtics would have to part with White to make it happen.

The proposed trade looks like this:

Houston Rockets get:

— Derrick White
— Haywood Highsmith
— $5 million trade exception (Reed Sheppard)

Boston Celtics get:

— Reed Sheppard
— Jalen Wilson
— 2029 first-rounder (via Rockets)
— $28.1 million trade exception (Derrick White)

Brooklyn Nets get:

— Fred VanVleet
— 2027 first-rounder

“White is already 31,” Pincus reasoned. “The Celtics use this opportunity to get younger at guard. Sheppard was among the top-regarded prospects in the 2024 NBA.com GM Survey (H/T John Schuhmann). Boston can afford to let him learn on the job in ways the contending Rockets cannot.”

Giving up White is a big ask, especially given the role he’s playing for the team this season. It’s hard to envision the Celtics biting on a trade offer like the one Pincus is proposing unless White specifically asks out and pinpoints Houston as his desired destination.

Boston likely will make another trade during the season, but barring a drastic change in circumstances, the deal probably wouldn’t include White.

Instead, expect Stevens to explore smaller moves involving rotation players and/or draft capital that can trim salary without disrupting a veteran core that will be needed once Jayson Tatum returns from injury.