While the Houdini has long-thought the Boston Celtics were in need of a defensive-minded center, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated recently added his two cents on why that is the case. We’re springing to action and providing a salary-cap breakdown of how the team can grab one of the league’s burliest big-men to fill that void.
Recently, Hardwood Houdini has given Boston Celtics fans an idea of how the team can acquire certain players on the trade market to complete the team’s roster for a playoff run. You see, with the team racing out to an 8-1 start, there are legitimate championship aspirations for this season.
That 8-1 start has included key victories over Eastern Conference contenders like the Milwaukee Bucks (the top overall regular season team in 2018-19) and the defending champion Toronto Raptors. Most recently, the team knocked off a Dallas Mavericks team that looks poised to be Western Conference playoff mainstays behind future MVP Luka Dioncic and former All-Star Kristaps Porzingis.
The thing is, you have to take these regular season results with a grain of salt–to a degree. Kemba Walker is actually a great fit with the team, which we figured as much heading into the season. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are also making noticeable leaps, which is even more important for the future of the team given Gordon Hayward‘s on-going injury woes.
The success of the team lies on the ability of that trio to continue burning defenders and proving elusive in the half-court game. With Brad Stevens instilling the hound-dog mentality in his guys (with a little lead-by-example from Marcus Smart) the team is slowing down opponents looking to get quick transition buckets after Boston Celtics misses.
To win a title, though, the team needs to make sure it can stop all kinds of opponents. Right now, no one on the roster is equipped to battle with Joel Embiid for a seven-game series. Quite frankly, the road to a title will run through Philadelphia due to their size, length and defensive versatility.
Eight wins in a row now for Boston. Celtics brass needs to be hunting big men on the trade market. This team might be a defensive-minded/rebounding big man from being a legit threat in the conference.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) November 12, 2019
With that in mind, Steven Adams is our target today. Adams hasn’t started off the year with guns blazin’, instead feeling his joints aching. It is slightly concerning that a knee injury has appeared on the injury report, but it has only kept him out of three games in 2019-20. Plus, perhaps some guys that routinely miss games will be included as well (*wink, wink*).
Here are three potential Adams trades to the Boston Celtics: