When Brad Stevens made a move on trade deadline day to acquire Jaden Springer from the Philadelphia Sixers, the thought was he’d be an end-of-the-bench guy who could provide some perimeter athleticism and defense. Since he arrived in Boston, Springer has only featured in garbage time minutes. On Monday night, with Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, Al Horford, Sam Hauser, and JD Davison out, chances were Springer would see significant minutes.
After 16 minutes against the Washington Wizards, Springer logged 22 minutes against the Detroit Pistons. Springer only scored six points, but his impact was felt on defense and making the right play with the ball in his hands on offense.
From picking his man up full court to fighting through screens, Springer showed why many Sixers fans were upset about giving up a young promising prospect to Boston. At 6’4, Springer has the athletic profile to lock up opposing guards with his supreme athleticism.
All four of Springer’s rebounds were offensive, giving the Celtics second-chance opportunities.
Here, Springer comes in from the weak side and grabs the offensive rebound amongst the trees. Then Springer made the right play by finding Svi Mykhailiuk for three.
After the game, Joe Mazzulla talked to NBC Sports Boston about the bench unit and their strong performance:
“It’s a testament to them. They put the work in all day. Them and the development staff,” Mazzulla said. “Regardless [of] who plays, we play at a high level [of] physicality and a high level of execution. They put in a ton of work and they made big plays for us today. We had I think 16 or 17 offensive rebounds, won the shot margin, and it’s all because of their physicality and their multiple efforts.”
At the end of the first half, Springer made multiple efforts on both ends of the court getting an extra possession on offense and then denying one on the other end.
Postgame, Derrick White praised Springer, saying, “Jaden [is] just always ready. And, what, two blocks? And just flying around out there. I mean, I remembered when we played against him in the preseason, he was playing like that. That hard. So, it’s nice to have him on our team.”
In addition to getting multiple offensive rebounds and showing off his athleticism on defense, Springer made some good decisions with the ball in his hands.
The first clip is Springer on the fast break. Springer forces the defender to commit to him, which allows Jaden to lay the ball back for the surging Jordan Walsh to rock the rim.
After another offensive rebound, Springer found an open Payton Pritchard in the corner.
With the Celtics closing in on locking down the number one seed in the East, there will be plenty of games for Springer to feature in. He’s still at the end of the bench rotation, but these minutes in the upcoming games will be crucial for his development and for Mazzulla to get a better idea of how he can use him if not this year, then next.
