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Boston Celtics: Recent Skid Make Trade More or Less Likely?

By Joshua Bateman

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 23: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics and Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers exchange a hug after the game between the two teams on January 23, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 23: Kyrie Irving #11 of the Boston Celtics and Kyle Kuzma #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers exchange a hug after the game between the two teams on January 23, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Are the Boston Celtics more likely to go for a trade after this four game losing streak?

The Boston Celtics are on their first four game losing streak of the season, and these have been four of their worst loses on the season. Their offense has hit rock bottom, and a lot of the surprise contributions they were getting early on are not happening right now.

The Celtics played four teams in the Pelicans, the Lakers, the Magic and the 76ers, who could all miss the playoffs, or be fighting for a top lottery pick this season. None of them are anywhere near the level of the Celtics, and yet they could not get a single victory.

The team looks completely out of sorts. The defense is still hanging on, but the team looks out of sync, and a lot of their young players are struggling. The rest of the team has been wasting strong Kyrie Irving performances, because nothing is working when he is not creating with some crazy move.

The ball movement is inconsistent, and absolutely nobody is really shooting well right now. They are not finding much of a spark on off the bench, and cannot put a complete game together. There are all kinds of runs both ways, and the Celtics know something has to change.

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With the trade deadline just around the corner, a lot of people are going to ask whether or not they should try and address these issues with a trade. There is still plenty of time for their minds to be changed either way, but going on the worst skid of the season could potentially impact how the Celtics want to approach the trade deadline.

Even after cashing in assets for Irving, the Celtics still have the ability to go out and get a top rental player, or a decent player on a longer deal. You can forget about the dreams of someone like Anthony Davis, but we are hearing more and more about disgruntled stars.

The Celtics are struggling, but are still the top team in the East. Some people might think that if the team is this good despite their struggles, if there is one player out there that could fix these issues, they should go right for it and try to win right now.

The other side of it is that this could be a bit of a reality check. People might see them struggle like this and think that there is no trade out there that can bring them to the level where they can truly contend for a title, even if they are able to maintain home court in the East.

In the end, a four game sample really should not be the deciding factor in whether or not they want to go and make a trade, but it has really emphasized how much this team needs Gordon Hayward. The offense and consistency he will bring is exactly what this team needs right now, and no matter how they bounce back from this skid, the fact that he is not coming back this year means they should avoid all win now moves for just this season.

The Celtics do not want to burn any of their assets unless they will be bringing in a player that will have an opportunity to win with Hayward, and this four game losing streak has made it impossible to ignore that. They also want to make sure any trade that is made, with also help when Hayward is playing, and that is too difficult to determine properly right now.

This recent skid could end up bringing along a lot more trade talk about the Celtics, because people will want to speculate about everything. In the end, this skid has just shown us how much brighter the future of this team is going to be, no matter how good or bad they look this year.

Next: An Ugly Night in LA Raises More Questions

The Celtics have always been patient in the past, and no kind of winning or losing streak is going to change that mentality too much. I would expect the Celtics to stay very quiet at the trade deadline this season, and save everything they have to more effectively build on this team once there is a full season to look at.

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