A Boston Celtics championship combo guard may be headed elsewhere this offseason.
But never fear, Celtics fans, this 22-year-old is not exactly a part of the reigning title winners' rotation.
Per HoopsHype's Michael Scotto, fourth-year guard Jaden Springer seems likely to feel the squeeze of being a deep-bench option on a capped-out roster in pursuit of further championships, to the point where the 6-foot-4 pro may not even be extended a qualifying offer in free agency this summer. Qualifying offers allow players to reach restricted free agency with their incumbent squads, which gives those squads the ability to match any contract offered to them by rival teams. If a qualifying offer is not going to be tendered, they become unrestricted free agents.
“With Springer out of the rotation and given Boston’s luxury tax situation, he’s unlikely to receive a qualifying offer this summer as well,” Scotto notes.
The point guard was selected with the No. 28 overall pick out of Tennessee in the 2021 NBA Draft. He's in the final year of his rookie-scale contract, earning $4.1 million this season before he hits either restricted free agency or, to hear Scotto predict it, unrestricted free agency. Springer has played sparingly for the Celtics this year. In just seven cameo appearances with the defending champs, he's averaging a scant 0.9 points on .286/.000/.500 shooting splits and 0.9 rebounds in just 3.4 minutes a night.
Boston is currently 17-4 on the year thus far, just a game behind the 18-3 Cleveland Cavaliers for pole position in the Eastern Conference standings. That's a 67-win pace, which (if it was maintained) would mark a three-game improvement on the 2023-24 champions' 64-win regular season. It's made all the more remarkable by the fact that starting center Kristaps Porzingis has only been available for three games thus far.
All-Defensive starting Celtics guards Jrue Holiday and Derrick White take up plenty of minutes, while Sixth Man of the Year frontrunner Payton Pritchard and sharpshooting wing Sam Hauser spell them off Boston's bench. That leaves precious little time for Springer, who has yet to distinguish himself among the Celtics' young guns during his tenure in TD Garden.
