Through 20 games played, the Boston Celtics find themselves boasting an 11-9 record, good for fourth-best in the Eastern Conference standings and ninth-best in the entire association.
Two of their top players in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have had career seasons, which have now translated into 1.4 million All-Star votes combine and, just recently, their franchise point guard, Kemba Walker, made his way back to the court after rehabbing from an offseason knee procedure.
However, despite all these positives, it still appears as though Boston needs to make some adjustments to their rotation if they wish to combat the star power that title-contending foes like the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Brooklyn Nets possess.
The Boston Celtics must utilize their $28.5M TPE this season
One way the Houdini hopes the team goes about bolstering their roster is by utilizing their historically high Traded Player Exception of $28.5 million.
Recently, General Manager Danny Ainge brought to light his desire to add “shooters with size” which, of course, sent the media on a mission to pinpoint specific players around the league that would both qualify for such a description and who’s contracts would be attainable with the C’s TPE.
In response, CBS Sports writer, Jack Maloney published a piece discussing 5 specific players that he believes would be realistic and beneficial talents to pursue by such means.
With this, it sparked the desire for us at the HH to push out yet another installment of our favorite series we call “Pass or Pursue”, where we discuss whether or not the Boston Celtics should sit out on talks for a specific player, or if they should actively try to acquire them.
So, without further adieu, let’s get started:
Proposed TPE target for Boston Celtics No. 1) Harrison Barnes
To start of his list, Maloney proposed the idea of the Boston Celtics pursuing the likes of ninth-year-veteran, Harrison Barnes.
Currently in his second full season with the Sacramento Kings, the 28-year-old is finding himself averaging 17.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 49.8 percent shooting from the field and 41.3 percent shooting from deep.
Having averaged at least 14.5 points per game over the past four straight seasons, one would likely assume that we at HH believe that he’d be a sound addition to Boston’s second unit that has struggled to generate points over the past two seasons.
That said, while Barnes might be seen as a suitable filler off the bench, or perhaps even in a starting role if need be, there are likely better options to be found out as we get closer to the March 25th deadline in terms of addressing a position that is in more need of bolstering as well as someone who, frankly, is just more talented for around the same price.
If it came down to utilizing the TPE on Harrison Barnes or, simply, standing pat, we believe the Cs should simply take the latter option, especially considering the fact that he’s still under contract for another two seasons at an average of around $19 million a year.
Verdict: Pass
Proposed TPE target for Boston Celtics No. 2) Thaddeus Young
Next up, we see a player at a position that actually could use for some filling in power forward, Thaddeus Young.
The 32-year-old finds himself as the elder presence on the young and rebuilding Chicago Bulls squad in 2020-21. Though he’s posting solid averages of 10.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.3 steals per game on 56 percent shooting from the field, because of their desire to focus on their future, it is highly likely that Chicago looks to move the veteran at some point this season and, should this happen, Maloney believes the Boston Celtics should be interested.
"Again, it’s hard to find a player that brings shooting, size and defense, and Young is not really much of a 3-point threat — 26.3 percent this season and 33.2 percent for his career. But he would definitely provide the latter two aspects for the Celtics. In fact, they’d be hard-pressed to find a better defensive option than Young, who is one of the most versatile and underrated players on that side of the ball in the league."
While his lackadaisical long-range shooting this year is a bit concerning, looking at his previous four seasons, Young has shot about 35 percent or better three times, which shows that he does have the capability of being a consistent stretch four, especially if he gets less pressure from the defense should he have teammates like, say, Tatum, Brown, and Walker on the court with him.
All this, coupled with his sound amount of postseason experience coupled with his only partially guaranteed contract for next season, taking on the power forward for the duration of this season could prove to be a solid move that deserves consideration.
Verdict: Pursue
Proposed TPE target for Boston Celtics No. 3) P.J. Tucker
Recently, reports came out that the Houston Rockets would be interested in trading their veteran power forward, P.J. Tucker, for either a first-round pick or three seconds — weird range, we know.
With this, it seems as though he may be easily attainable for any team looking to add veteran experience and toughness within the frontcourt and, if you ask Maloney, Tucker could scratch this itch for the shamrocks:
"Tucker isn’t the biggest wing, but he makes up for his lack of size with incredible strength and toughness that allows him to defend much bigger players. His mindset on that end of the floor would be exactly what the Celtics are looking for. Offensively he’s far less dynamic than some other options, but you can rely on him to hit open 3s."
For those of you who follow us — as always, much love! — you already know that we here at the site believe Tucker would be a terrific grab for the Boston Celtics.
At only $7.9 million, the 35-year-old is the best traditional power forward that is realistically attainable, and he could even find himself starting on this year’s Cs team, as they’d love to use a more typical four in their rotation.
P.J. Tucker is a great 3-and-D player for virtually any championship aspiring ball club, and should be high on Ainge’s radar.
Verdict: Pursue
Potential TPE target for Boston Celtics No. 4) Taurean Prince
Taurean Prince, who was just recently sent from Brooklyn to Cleveland, does not seem like his stay with the Cavaliers will be for long, as they look to the future and, seemingly anything over the age of 22 is “too old.”
Still, just 26-years-old with untapped potential, the wing is only in his fifth season and has shown an array of skills that Maloney sees as being quite beneficial for Boston:
"He’s shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point land this season and has the size and athleticism to be an impactful defender, though he hasn’t always proven it on that end of the floor. He definitely won’t be the first option for the Celtics, but he could be worth considering if the price for someone like Barnes or Gordon gets too high. Though much better than many expected this season, the Cavaliers are still in the early stages of a long rebuild and would likely be willing to move Prince without requiring much of a return."
Prince is a two-way wing with impressive size (6-7 with a 7-foot wingspan) and quick feet who could be a quality piece to come off the bench for a bevy of championship contenders.
That said, for what he’s shown, his $12.6 million average salary seems like a bit much, and, for the cap-stapped Cs, this price for his production seems like a bit much, even with their TPE.
Like we said for Barnes, there are likely to be better options to target as we move along in the season.
Verdict: Pass
Potential TPE target for the Boston Celtics No. 5) Aaron Gordon
Last but certainly not least, we have the high-flying Orlando Magic power forward, Aaron Gordon.
Now in his seventh season in the league, the 25-year-old has been proving himself this season more than any other to be a quality point-forward/ floor-spacing big, as he’s boasting impressive all-around averages of 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game on 43 percent shooting fro the floor and 37 percent shooting from deep on 4.4 attempts per game.
In the past, we’ve discussed the idea of the Boston Celtics going after the likes of Gordon many times and, still, our reasoning as to why remains completely the same:
"The idea of acquiring Aaron Gordon has been one in the minds of us here at HH for quite some time now. Just recently, we published an article discussing why we believe Gordon to be a great target for the Boston Celtics using their newly acquired trade exception from the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade. During the 2019-20 campaign, Gordon posted averages of 14.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 3.7 assists on 44 percent shooting from the floor. With him in tow, the Boston Celtics would have themselves a fantastic pick & roll player at the four who will draw a defense’s attention whenever he is in the vicinity of the rim, can sky-high for lob passes, and who has also improved upon his 3-point shot since entering the league. Frankly, with Aaron Gordon, this already impressive offense would simply just get even better."
Enough said!