With just two weeks remaining for NBA teams to consummate whatever deals they plan to make for the remainder of the 2019-20 season left, we can expect the market to start heating up in the coming days.
But should we expect movement from the Boston Celtics this season, and if so, what would it look like? With so many teams believing they might be in the hunt for a ring and so few expiring deals to grease the tracks, it could well be a tepid trade season.
The Celtics are emblematic of this conundrum, with all positive value contracts for big-money players (with Gordon Hayward perhaps a minor exception), leaving them ill-prepared to make a splashy move despite a solid warchest of draft assets at their disposal.
Thus, analysts are predicting a slow to non-existent trade season for the franchise, with a small move to reinforce bench scoring and shooting being the most likely move if any are made.
There are a few Celtics analysts who could see big moves go down if the circumstances are right — usually revolving around concern over forward Gordon Hayward opting out of his current deal at season.
NBC Sports’ Darren Hartwell believes Detroit Pistons’ big man Andre Drummond could be had for Hayward or Marcus Smart, but there’s concerns about Drummonds fit vs. what either of Boston’s players brings to the table.
Moreover, the UConn product’s contract situation is the same as Hayward’s, so you wouldn’t gain any security or cap relief with such a move.
Other ideas to land an impact player include Sam Quinn of CBS Sports‘ idea to aggregate salaries to land a player near the maximum return allowed back above the aggregated players’ salaries, only to then move that player yet again for another salary upgrade.
In the example cited by Quinn — moving centers Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier along with rookie wing Romeo Langford for a player like Cody Zeller, who would then be flipped for a player like Tristan Thompson is intriguing in theory.
In reality, it would have to contend with the hard cap triggered by Kemba Walker and the risks of getting stuck part-way through the process in a costly move for an older player who doesn’t really solve matchups with some of the premier East bigs.
Celtics Wire’s Justin Quinn could see a deal for Hayward making sense in a recent article by Celtics Hub’s Cam Tabatabaie, but only if the move addresses the cap crunch extending Jayson Tatum will create.
A deal for Minnesota Timberwolves forward Robert Covington and center Gorgui Dieng might do just that while securing in RoCo a player who can do much of what Hayward does — but cheaper.
Washington Wizards’ swingman Davis Bertans was an exceptionally popular choice among those focusing more on shoring up the second unit, but his high cost will make competition for the 3-point assassin’s service steep.
And that’s assuming the Wiz even are open to dealing him, as they have denied as much so far, an issue for several players targeted by teams hoping to make a trade this season.
Guard Alec Burks of the Golden State Warriors is another popular option floated by several analysts, including WEEI’s Nick Friar, who relates:
“[I]t looks like [Boston is] interested in someone who can score off the bench but still be somewhat serviceable on defense — based on the players they’ve been linked to so far … Alec Burks would fit and probably wouldn’t be too difficult to trade for, as much as he’s not exactly a flashy acquisition.”
Tabatabaie floats the idea of Ish Smith as a more dynamic backup floor general than Brad Wanamaker, who defends well but doesn’t do much to help with bench scoring.
Celtics cap guru Ryan Bernardoni could see a deal to boost bench shooting by targeting Sacramento King Bogdan Bogdanović in the hopes his current franchise is unwilling to pay him loads once his $8.5 million deal is over.
Whoever Boston ends up making calls about, it’s very likely they won’t be alone in their pursuits no matter big or small.
With the scrum in the standings No. 2 through 6 in both conferences less than four games apart, teams may convince themselves they are still in the hunt well beyond the Feb. 6 trade deadline.
But that in no way means the roster Boston has now will be the roster it has Feb. 7, even if there are no big splashes.
It may just come down to a team blinking and overpaying to compete to spark a trade war far different than the sort we’ve seen in recent headlines.
One that could make for a very interesting spring, too.
