Boston Celtics: 2 trades for Cs to land John Collins
By Mark Nilon
Boston Celtics trade No. 2) Cs prioritize power forward over Marcus Smart
Seeing this proposal above, we’re sure you’re ready to sound off in the comments section — we get it.
Since joining the team back in 2014, Marcus Smart has established himself as being the “heart and soul” of Boston Celtics basketball. His defensive versatility is rivaled by few others while his offensive prowess is shockingly still improving.
All things considered, we at the Houdini absolutely love Smart.
That said, should they be able to land a package of Collins, De’Andre Hunter, and Kevin Huerter for the combo guard, Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, two future firsts (one top-15 protected), and a second, you take that deal and, in all seriousness, this proposal is a bit more realistic than you may want to believe.
The Hawks are a team looking to start to win now and, quite frankly, have no one on the roster outside of Rajon Rondo who has managed to be an impact player on deep-run/ competent postseason teams and, truthfully, Rondo is barely an impact player at this point.
Smart’s leadership, intangibles, production, and postseason experience would be a huge asset to have for this young and high-aspiring Atlanta squad and, in turn, it’s very realistic that they could value his presence high enough to where they’d be willing to part with three young talents for.
As for Boston, they bring on Collins — who we covered in slide one — to serve as either the team’s starting four or five, and two young and talented prospects in Hunter (17.2 points, 5.4 rebounds on 54 percent shooting from the floor) and Huerter (12.7 points, 3.8 rebounds on 41 percent shooting from deep) to bolster their underwhelming second unit scoring.
Again, giving up Marcus Smart is a tough pill to swallow, but if the Celtics can land this type of deal, we believe it’s certainly something to consider.