BOSTON — Jaden Springer made his return to TD Garden on Monday night just one month after the Celtics dealt away the 23-year-old forward to the Houston Rockets. Springer was waived by Houston one day after the deal was completed and ultimately signed with the Utah Jazz on a three-year deal after he agreed a 10-day contract with the team in February. Springer reunited in Utah with former Celtics teammate Svi Mykhailiuk.
“It was a lot, but it was pretty cool and fun, embrace the journey,” Springer said of the busy month before Monday’s game in the visiting locker room. “I’m happy where I’m at, in Utah with a team of bunch of great players, bunch of great staff, so they brought me in, showed me, how everything goes and got me up to speed and pretty quick.”
Springer was the subject of Celtics trade rumors dating back to training camp, largely due to his $4.02 million salary. With luxury repeater tax penalties factored in, that would have cost Boston upwards of $15 million in total if he remained on the roster. That was a lot of money for a guy that was unable to break into the team’s rotation during training camp.
Springer ended up playing 41 games this year for Boston, averaging 1.9 points and 1.0 rebounds in 6.3 minutes per contest. The Celtics ultimately elected to ship Springer out to Houston along with a 2030 second-round pick to open up a roster spot that eventually went to Torrey Craig. However, Springer had a sense a deal was coming before the deadline.
“Brad told me like before it actually (happened),” Springer said. “He gave me a heads up like ‘Hey, something might happen,’ so, I’m happy he gave me like a heads up. I appreciate Brad for bringing me in, let me get a championship with them guys and be on the team, so I appreciate them. I got love for them, so it’s pretty cool.”
The Celtics originally acquired Springer at last year’s trade deadline from the 76ers for a second-round pick. He didn’t make much of an impact on the floor during his two years in Boston but embraced the experience of being on a title team.
“I got to watch Jason Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, got to watch those guys and Payton Pritchard,” Springer said. “I got to watch those guys every game and then being around the team and this culture is like is you adapt to win the culture you know what it takes to win so having that knowledge is something that you can always use.”
Springer has seen some opportunity with a rebuilding Jazz squad that rewarded with a three-year deal shortly after he became a free agent in February.
“They said they were interested, let me come on 10-day deal, see what I can do, see I am as a person, as a player,” Springer said. “I went there, I guess things, went well, so they gave me a little deals to be on the team, and I’m appreciative of that. I just wanna go out there and help these guys compete, any way I can.”
The Celtics will face off against Springer and the Jazz again in Utah on March 21 at the start of a six-game road trip.
