The NBA trade deadline is a mere hours away and the Celtics have yet to pull the trigger on any one of the hundreds of rumors flying through the interwebs. With the roster already at 15 players, Celtic president Danny Ainge has very little to work with heading into the deadline.
Tradeable Chips: Avery Bradley, Von Wafer, Marquis Daniels, Semih Erden, Nate Robinson and draft picks.
Bradley has the most potential, but Ainge would need to be willing to mortgage the future to fix the present. Erden is short money (500K next season) but will not command a lot in return. Wafer and Daniels offer the NBA gold of expiring contracts, but there is a downside attached. Wafer does not make enough money to provide a decent return and Daniels has the right to veto any trade due to his early “Bird Rights” having signed a second consecutive one year deal with the Celtics. Nate Robinson is owed 4.5 mil next season and could be used as leverage to take on an even bigger contract in return. The Celtics have their first rounds picks to offer as well, but with the Celtics likely no where near the lottery, they would be of little interest to opposing GM’s.
Needs: Small Forward and general bench depth.
Rumors:
Nate Robinson: will/will not be traded to the Golden State Warriors. Almost as quickly as we heard about this one, it quickly went away. The Celtics need a small forward and could use Nate Robinson to obtain one or clear the way to obtain one via buyout once the trade deadline passes.
Rasheed Wallace: the long standing rumor is that Sheed would join the C’s after the trade deadline passes. With Semih Erden now forced into the starting lineup, signing Rasheed Wallace does not seem like such a bad idea.
Shane Battier: Battier has over 7 mil in contract remaining and it will most likely take both Nate Robinson and Marquis Daniels to make the trade work from a money standpoint. At this point, what do you really gain. Odds are, Battier will be available in a few days via a buyout.
Anthony Parker: The Cavs have been rumored to be in search for a “quality draft pick” in return for Parker. With the C’s looking to draft possibly from #28 on, the draft pick option is out of the question. The only other conciviable option would be Avery Bradley. With an enticing Rondo, Bradley backcourt combo for the future, the C’s would be hard pressed to swap Bradley for a rental player.
Grant Hill: A deal for Hill would make sense for the right price. Hill has an expiring contract, but it will take the combination of Daniels along with either Bradley, Haragody and Erden to make it happen.
Clearing the way for a Buyout.
A host of quality NBA players are rumored to be available in a few days as teams buy out the remaining money on their contracts. Players such as, Richard Hamilton, Troy Murphy, James Posey, Tayshaun Prince, Rasaul Butler and Jason Kapono could be looking for work and the Celtics offer a preferred destination for players looking to make a run at a title. The downside is that the Celtics need to let someone go in order to make this happen. They may not make a blockbuster deal before the deadline, but they may make a player for picks trade or a 2 for 1 deal just to get the roster below 15 in order to accommodate a new acquisition.