Jaden Springer joined the Boston Celtics at the February 8 trade deadline. He came highly recommended by Sam Cassell, who is an assistant coach for the Celtics but was previously working under Doc Rivers with the Philadelphia 76ers. The defensive-minded guard made his debut on Thursday (Feb. 22) during the Celtic’s win over the Chicago Bulls.
When speaking to the media following the game, Springer was asked what differences he’s spotted since arriving in Boston. He noted how the Celtics play a more free-flowing brand of basketball, with everybody empowered to make reads based on how the defense is guarding them.
“I feel like there’s more read and react,” Springer said. “You going out there playing based off each other, playing based off your teammates. So you’re just reading what everybody else is doing. It’s not really a set, ‘we have to do this, we have to do that.’ So just going out there and hooping and playing basketball.”
Despite his undoubted potential, and coming highly recommended, Springer faces a battle for playing time this season. He is behind Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard in the Celtics guard rotation. However, his defensive upside could be a swing factor in his bid for minutes.
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Joe Mazzulla likes his team to be defensively sound. Boston runs multiple different defensive systems as they look to keep opposing offenses on their toes. Springer can fit into each of those seasons and has previously shown value as a point-of-attack defender.
Whether that defense can earn him minutes this season will remain to be seen. Logically, it may be a few months until we see him consistently taking to the court.
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