Trade to make Cs title favorites No. 1) Myles Turner and bench scoring
We must give credit where credit is due, as we did not come up with this trade idea on our own. Recently, Bleacher Report came out with an article entitled Trades to Get Every Eliminated Playoff Team to 2021 NBA Finals and, in turn, concocted this juicy little number.
All the Houdini can say is bravo, B/R, for this may be your finest work yet.
As we’ve been saying virtually since the season started, the Boston Celtics seriously need to bolster their frontcourt rotation. While Daniel Theis proved to be quite an underrated commodity at the starting pivot spot for the majority of the 2019-20 season, once the playoffs rolled around and, more specifically, when they ventured deep into the postseason and faced off against Bam Adebayo and the Miami Heat, the 28-year-old was seemingly in over his head trying to combat their All-Star center.
Because of this, I believe we speak for all C’s fans when we say we hope Danny Ainge tries to address the depth at the five. This trade does exactly that and more.
Myles Turner may not be the biggest name at his position, but he certainly is one that fits Boston’s scheme quite nicely — perhaps even better than Theis.
On the season, the 23-year-old big posted solid averages of 12.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and a whopping 2.1 blocks per game on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 34 percent shooting from deep.
Unlike some of our own deals we’ve created to try and improve the center spot, this trade actually sees Theis staying in tow. A rotation consisting of both the Turner and the German Hammer is easily one that presents a deep and sound combination of both defensive and floor spacing abilities.
Not only does this trade address the C’s weakness at the pivot, but it also addresses their lackadaisical second unit scoring punch — ranked 29th in points per game (28.5), 28th in 3-point percentage (31.8), and 20th in offensive rating (53.6) — by adding two offensive-minded role players in Jeremy Lamb (12.5 PPG in 2019-20) and Doug McDermott (10.3 points on 43 percent shooting from deep in 2019-20).
This deal ties up many loose ends on the Boston Celtics’ roster and, thus, would easily better position themselves for a shot a glory as early as next season.