Boston Celtics: 4 trades to boost top Eastern Conference contenders

The NBA Eastern Conference will get considerably stronger next season. The Boston Celtics will naturally improve with more playing time, but their opponents can get better making these moves.

The “least-ern” conference is going to be getting a facelift in 2020. While the Boston Celtics will most likely remain intact–barring any potential Gordon Hayward trades–the rest of the Eastern Conference will likely load up, barring any of them winning an NBA Championship.

We know already that there is a ready-made contender in the Atlantic Division waiting in the wings with the Brooklyn Nets awaiting the returns of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Who could forget that rookie head coach and NBA legend Steve Nash will be the man managing them?

Elsewhere, there will be teams like the Indiana Pacers that, even without a trade, will be closer to whole with injuries hopefully not being a factor again next season. That said, they have Victor Oladipo in a contract year and several other pieces that can be packaged into a star.

Even the hapless Philadelphia 76ers will naturally get better with a healthier Ben Simmons. The team had been trying him at the four and seemed to have success before the point guard injured his knee during the regular season seeding slate. That said, the dysfunction in their organization puts them just below contender status.

Every legitimate Eastern Conference contender has a chance to get better this offseason, and all of them have a chance to be one move away and become a potential powerhouse. Here are the moves every contender in the east can make: