As things currently stand, the Boston Celtics are a team far off from contending for an NBA Championship.
At this point, it’s no longer an opinion fans and media analysts have — the franchise believes this to be true as well.
Recently, when asked if he believes the Cs are good enough to contend for the Larry O’Brien trophy come year’s end, General Manager and President of Basketball Operations, Danny Ainge, was straight forward with his answer:
"“I do not”, he replied. “Our roster obviously is not good. I mean, we are a 14-14 team. There’s no if’s, and’s or but’s about it. That’s who we are,” the Celtics’ GM said, taking responsibility. “This team, where we are, 14-14, if there’s somebody to blame, this is Danny Ainge to blame. This is not Brad Stevens. It’s not Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown. It’s like not good enough right now. And we all know that. And, you know, we need to get better.”"
Now, two games removed from this interview, things have not managed to get any better for the shamrocks.
The Boston Celtics should consider dealing Kemba Walker
Most recently, they dropped back down to a .500 record of 15-15 after giving up a 24 point lead in the second half to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Despite the efforts of the league’s best wing duo in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the team ultimately couldn’t get the deed done in overtime.
With this latest loss, it now leaves the Boston Celtics with more questions as they head towards the mid-way point of the season.
Realistically, the team is going to want to make some moves between now and the March 25th trade deadline if they want to better fill out their roster to compliment their star wings.
One common theme we’ve been seeing here at the Houdini has been the idea of trading the team’s All-Star point guard, Kemba Walker — this concept is especially popular with my co-Expert, Andrew Hughes.
With his latest performance, going 5-21 from the floor and 1-12 from deep for 14 points, despite my belief that he can still be a top-notch contributor in this league, it’s beginning to look as though perhaps a parting of ways could be mutually beneficial for both the point guard and the franchise for a multitude of reasons.
Today, in honor of their latest game against the Pelicans, we present to you two trades Danny Ainge and co. should consider pursuing with New Orleans:
Boston Celtics trade No. 1) Cs land a new starting point guard and center
Recently, rumors surfaced suggesting that the Pelicans could be willing to part ways with Lonzo Ball prior to the March 25th deadline.
Perhaps swapping him out for a perennial All-Star point guard could be an enticing enough idea for the front office to consider, especially if it meant giving up no substantial picks in the process.
For a market like New Orleans, stars are an incredibly hard commodity to come by. Because of this, trading for one like Kemba Walker could be a realistic concept, especially considering the fact that they are currently looking to contend in the tough Western Conference and have a lacking pool of experienced veterans.
The 30-year-old would come in and formulate quite a nice big-3 alongside young studs Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, and, in turn, could help alleviate the defensive pressure thrown at both of them on a nightly basis, as the point guard himself is also a crafty shot creator who demands a double-team.
In return, the Boston Celtics would bring back Lonzo Ball who, quite frankly, could very well be a better fit in Beantown than in NOLA alongside Tatum and Brown.
Now in his fourth season in the league, the 23-year-old has established himself as quite a reliable all-around player.
His set-up skills are rivaled by few others in this league, while his 6-6 frame with a 6-9 wingspan allows him to be a sound rebounder for his position as well as a highly versatile defender.
On the season, Ball is posting per-game averages of 14.3 points, five assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and a half-block on 43 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep.
He fits the timeline that the C’s wings are currently on while also serving as a much cheaper option at the one, even if they re-signed him this offseason (hopefully they would), than Walker.
Coming alongside Ball is Steven Adams, an old fan-favorite trade target last season before he was ultimately dealt to New Orleans this past offseason.
The biggest weakness within Boston’s rotation is the pivot and has been since Al Horford left in the summer of 2019.
While the experiment with the Aussie in the Big Easy has been somewhat underwhelming to date, what he provides on a nightly basis might be exactly what this Celtics team could use at their starting five.
A big-bodied center just shy of 7-feet (6-11, 250-pounds), Adams is averaging eight points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and a steal per game on 60 percent shooting from the field. He finds himself second in the league in offensive boards (4.3) and is boasting the best defensive rating of his entire career of 115.
With this deal, the Boston Celtics get both a starting point guard and center back in return for a guy that they saw more success with him out of the lineup in comparison to once he returned.
Boston Celtics trade No. 2) Cs get players for now, a pick for the future
This trade idea is a bit more complex than the one in the previous slide.
Here, we see the Boston Celtics still trading away Kemba Walker but, along with him, Daniel Theis comes with him.
In the middle of another solid campaign with the Cs, in which he’s averaging 9.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks on 58 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep, the Pelicans could be interested in bringing on the German Hammer, as his floor spacing skill set fits far nicer in the rotation alongside Zion than Steven Adams’.
Lastly, we see Tristan Thompson heading to NOLA to fill the void they have in the veteran leadership department, to help bolster the frontcourt, and to add championship experience to this postseason-pushing roster.
In return, again we see Adams coming to Boston, as well as a point guard.
This time, however, we have veteran guard Eric Bledsoe coming to town.
The 31-year-old finds himself having quite a nice season with the Pelicans.
Through 28 games, the guard is averaging 12.6 points, 3.6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from deep and boasts a career high defensive rating of 119, thus proving he can still help and excel on both ends of the floor.
Having quite an impressive track record of succeeding whilst running alongside ball dominant wings, having Bledsoe fill in as the starting point guard with the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown running the show would likely be a smooth transition.
Add in the fact that he’s knocking down over 40 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts on four shots a game, and you have a nice complementary piece on this drive-and-kick loving Celtics team.
The team also gets second-year wing Nickeil Alexander-Walker along with the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2021 first-round pick.