Brad Stevens and the Boston Celtics had to pay a pretty penny for Derrick White and Daniel Theis at Thursday's NBA trade deadline.
The C's parted ways with Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, Dennis Schroder, Enes Freedom, and Bruno Fernando to acquire White from the San Antonio Spurs and Theis from the Houston Rockets. That's a lot of players shipped out of town, but perhaps the toughest part giving the Spurs a 2022 first-round pick and the right to swap first-round selections in 2028.
Stevens details how Celtics can become a 'special' team
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Our Chris Forsberg asked Stevens about the decision to include those assets in the White deal.
"That's the cost, right? That's the part you lose sleep over is the unknown," Stevens said on "Celtics Pregame Live". "The pick and then the pick swap. I mean, the pick swap probably moreso. But I also think you don't have a chance to get the perfect complement with three-and-a-half years left on a really good contract who your players already know, who your coach is already really comfortable with, and you've always been a huge fan of as a staff, not just me. That doesn't come around every day.
"So, being able to be unencumbered moving beyond this year should the pick convey I think is a good thing. I guess the deal will be judged in 2028, but that's OK with us. Let's try to be the best that we can be, let's try to put some guys around our best players that can really make us fly and let's have some fun."
Only time will tell whether Stevens' decision was the right one. Six years of time, to be exact.
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You can watch Forsberg's full interview with Stevens below: