Boston Celtics: 3 starters who could be traded before next season

The Boston Celtics have one of the better starting fives in the NBA, but it wasn’t good enough to get the team to the finals. Here are 3 starters that can be dealt before next season.

The preseason is officially underway, and so far, some teams are looking to establish themselves as early season dark horses. The Brooklyn Nets–the Christmas day opponents of the Boston Celtics–debuted their new superstar duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to a 33 point first half for the max contract earners.

Of course, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a hot start beating down the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday and opening up the preseason with a hot start with their new rotation. Taylor Horton-Tucker is proving to be a rotation piece, and their frontcourt is drastically improved with the additions of Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell.

The Cs certainly face an uphill climb with those teams improving and other natural risers like the Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat and even the Phoenix Suns out west if Chris Paul can be the perfect puzzle piece to the young Suns puzzle.

Could they look to make a major move? If they do, these are the 3 starters that are most likely to be dealt before next season begins…or sooner:

Daniel Theis

Daniel Theis is a simple case. He makes $5 million now, but is due for an extension at the end of the season. While he provides stability at the center spot, he is clearly a weak link and is the biggest mismatch for opposing scorers most nights.

Dealing him before he is in line for an unreasonable deal is the best course of action, unless Danny Ainge can corral the German center for a “hometown discount.”