Boston Celtics: B/R has Victor Oladipo heading to Beantown in latest piece

The Boston Celtics may have botched a deal with the Indiana Pacers already this offseason, but Bleacher Report proposes another that could put them in a “win-now” mode.

The Boston Celtics come into the 2020-21 season hobbled, undermanned, and somewhat up in the air in terms of what their regular-season rotation could wind up looking like to kick things off.

However, even with this, many are still expecting big things from the franchise, as ESPN has them projected to finish as a top-5 team in the Eastern Conference standings once again.

That said, even with these expectations, there are still a few ways in which the shamrocks could better position themselves for a run at glory during this upcoming campaign.

In one of Bleacher Report’s latest articles, writer Zach Buckley proposes the idea that, should Boston wish to thrust themselves more into a win-now situation, they could go about offering Marcus Smart, Romeo Langford, and a 2021 lottery-protected first-round pick to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for All-Star shooting-guard, Victor Oladipo.

Citing that the 28-year-old’s talent level is clearly greater than a majority of the players they currently have on their roster, Buckley suggested that now could be the time for Danny Ainge to cash in on his trade chips and take part in a blockbuster deal:

"The Shamrocks could try hoping players like Romeo Langford, Jeff Teague, Aaron Nesmith and Payton Pritchard can pick up the slack, but which of those options feels more comfortable? Moreover, who seems likely to emerge in a manner that resonates across the entire league?Rather than attaching championship hopes to prayers for player development, Boston could (finally) cash in some trade chips for an instant-impact talent. Victor Oladipo would of course need to be healthy for this to work, but if he is, he might replace all of Hayward’s offensive production plus some of Marcus Smart’s pesky perimeter defense."

The idea of Oladipo coming to the Boston Celtics is nothing new for us here at the Houdini.

That said, while we obviously wouldn’t mind seeing the talented guard join forces with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker — once he comes back healthy –, perhaps it would be best for the Cs to start the season with what they have to get a better feel for where they are before making any bold moves such as this.

For us at HH, we find it best to put a bookmark in this hypothetical deal and revisit it at a later date.