Brad Stevens has orchestrated a blockbuster trade or two in his tenure as the Boston Celtics president of basketball operations.

But pulling the trigger on a big move was basically out of the question for Stevens and the Celtics with the NBA trade deadline passing Thursday afternoon.

The Celtics made just one trade before the deadline as they sent reserve guard Jaden Springer and a 2030 second-round pick to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Future second-round picks were also swapped in the deal.

Other than that, it was all quiet from the Celtics. That certainly wasn’t the case for the rest of the NBA, though. Teams around the leagues participated in a trade deadline frenzy with several big-name players switching teams. And some of the moves have a direct impact on the Celtics.

Here are four Celtics takeaways from a wild 2025 NBA trade deadline:

Boston’s main deadline objective clear
Trading Springer, who showed well in recent weeks as a defensive sparkplug off the bench, signaled what the Celtics wanted to achieve at the deadline, and it wasn’t improving an already loaded roster. The Celtics wanted to save money and they did that by offloading the 22-year-old Springer. Springer’s $4 million contract is too much for an end-of-the-bench piece that rarely plays, but the bigger problem for the Celtics was how Springer’s contract counted against the luxury tax. By dealing him away, the Celtics saved around $15 million in luxury tax penalties, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

That’s certainly not a sexy move that is going to draw a lot of fanfare. But the franchise’s next owner probably will appreciate that trade.

Celtics turn attention to buyout market
Stevens didn’t have to force a trade with the Celtics already possessing a deep and talented roster. He also has perusing the buyout market in his back pocket too as a way to add a player to the roster. Boston will actually have to do that within the next two weeks as it has 13 players on the roster, which is one below the league minimum. The Celtics are a perfect destination for buyout candidates since they are in terrific position to win another ring. Since the Celtics are above the second apron, they cannot sign a player on the buyout market who was making more than $12.8 million.

Celtics’ biggest competitor in East got stronger
The Celtics stood pat at the deadline, but their biggest competition in the Eastern Conference didn’t take that approach. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who entered Thursday with a five-game lead for the top spot in the East over the Celtics, executed a trade to land De’Andre Hunter from the Atlanta Hawks for Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, three second-round picks and two swaps.

Hunter gives the Cavs another strong scoring option as he’s averaging a career-high 19 points per game this season and shooting 39.3% from 3-point range. But he also is a strong and athletic wing — standing at 6-foot-8 and 225 pounds — who can help defend Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in a playoff series.

Plenty of pressure remains on the Celtics
There’s a reason why Stevens didn’t make any moves, even minor ones at the deadline. Boston showed last season they have a championship roster and Stevens made the decision to not tinker with that. That will put plenty of pressure on the Celtics to be the first team since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors to repeat as NBA champions.