Boston Celtics: 2 depth-bolstering offseason trades
This is a deal that we concocted a few months ago that, surprisingly, did not create as much buzz as we believed it warranted. Today, we’re bringing it back for another go around.
In this deal, we see the Boston Celtics parting ways with Gordon Hayward and his — assuming he opts in — remaining year left on his deal. The small forward is in the midst of his best season while donning green & white, as he’s averaging an impressive 17.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game on 50 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from downtown.
Proving to be Boston’s best facilitator and one of their most efficient scorers, the idea of losing Hayward might be a bit painful. However, when looking at what this hypothetical return package would be, it easily softens the blow.
In order to make the salaries work, we see Aaron Gordon as the many money chip.
With a similar career trajectory as Detroit Pistons’ power forward Blake Griffin, Gordon entered the league known for his freakish athleticism and arena rattling dunks. However, over time, the power forward has managed to make himself a more well rounded/ multidimensional player.
In 2019-20, the 24-year-old finds himself posting quite a nice season with Orlando, seeing averages of 14.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. With him in Beantown the Boston Celtics would have themselves an unbelievable pick & roll asset at their disposal who will draw a defense’s attention when near the rim, can sky-high for lob passes and who has also improved upon his 3-point stroke over the years.
The biggest draw to this trade, however, is the potential for the Boston Celtics to finally get an answer at the pivot.
Despite being stuck behind face-of-the-franchise Nikola Vucevic on the depth chart, 21-year-old Mo Bamba has still managed to impress in limited playing time.
In just 14.5 minutes of play this season, Bamba boasted averages of 5.5 points, five boards, and 1.4 blocks per game on 47 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent shooting from deep.
Eye-popping? No.
However, when given starters minutes this year — within the 20-29 minutes range — the 7-0 center has shown glimpses of excellence. In this time range, Bamba finds himself averaging 10 points, 6.8 rebounds, and an impressive 2.5 blocks per game on 52 percent shooting from the floor and a whopping 70 percent shooting from deep.
His ability to lock down the paint on defense, crash the boards, and stretch the floor would easily be welcomed with open arms by the Cs come the 2020-21 season. Add in the fact that they seriously should look into strengthening their interior rotation if they legitimately want to contend for a title and you’ve got a no-brainer idea in dealing for both Gordon and Bamba if Orlando would be enticed enough to add the versatile swingman.