The Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, and now the Boston Celtics. The East is improving. Or, at least, evolving.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe have reported that the San Antonio Spurs will send Derrick White to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, a protected 2022 first-round pick, and the right to swap a 2028 pick.
Romeo Langford joins Richardson in deal to the Spurs too, per source.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022
Spurs will also have the right to swap first-round picks with Boston in 2028, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/eQD9MrQ9ta
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) February 10, 2022
The Spurs continue their pursuit of draft assets while the Celtics bolster their backcourt quite a bit. Derrick White has averaged 14.4 points with 5.6 assists, and 1.0 steal over his 49 games with the Spurs this season. The 27-year-old is a solid two-way guard who provides pesky on-ball defense and a useful ability to get to the free-throw line. There is no question that replacing Richardson’s 24.7 minutes per game with White will be a boost for the Celtics – a team that has won six in a row and eight of their last nine games. White is under contract for three more seasons.
So … are the Bulls worried yet? I’m not trying to say Arturas Karnisovas must do something crazy. But this is a tight East race, and we now have seen six of the top-8 teams in the conference make win-now moves (Cavaliers did so earlier by adding Caris LeVert). While I am comfortable with the Bulls trusting what they have, there is always room for improvement. Things around the margins can definitely be tweaked, so let’s see if they have anything up their sleeve. Remember: There is always the buyout market, as well.