With a lack of team success outside of the individual triumphs of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Boston Celtics could be a team preparing for seismic roster changes in the coming month. 2021 is offering a March that not only offers madness in the NCAA, but also on the trade market in the NBA.
The current standings in the Eastern Conference could make this year one with a buyer’s market at the deadline. There are three teams sitting at the top of the pack, and the #2 (Brooklyn Nets) and #3 (Milwaukee Bucks) seeds are both within one game of the east’s #1 seed that is currently owned by the Philadelphia 76ers.
The #4-#14 seeds in the Eastern Conference are all within 4.5 games of each other, and the pack as a whole is only 3.5 games behind the Bucks.
In essence, the madness has actually been a season-long theme in the National Basketball Association. I suppose that’s what happens when you factor in a global pandemic and the complications that come with it.
That the Boston Celtics–who have had a standard of Eastern Conference finals appearances for the majority of the past half-decade–are part of said scrum is damning. Danny Ainge has talked a lot about making trades. It may only be a matter of time before a move is made in Beantown.
If one goes down, the Houdini is hoping the following 3 role players aren’t included in any transaction:
Boston Celtics role player they shouldn’t deal #1: Semi Ojeleye
HH has been guilty of publishing Semi Ojeleye trade pieces in the past, but at this moment in time, his salary isn’t big enough to be included in a deal that would be worth giving him up for.
Ojeleye has remained an above-average shooter with increased usage, and his additional minutes have been accompanied by career-highs in both true shooting percentage and rebounding percentage.
What truly makes him essential, though, is the fact that he is tied with Jayson Tatum for the second-longest tenure on the team. While change is good, so is continuity, especially since Ojeleye was a part of two different ECF teams.
Boston Celtics role player they shouldn’t deal #2: Payton Pritchard
Payton Pritchard of the Pac-12 from a season ago has become a must-keep entity in Boston very quickly. Clutch moments, a memorable and likable personality, and damn good shooting from a rookie make Pritchard indispensable…or at least it should.
Not to go there, but Danny Ainge has traded undersized fan-favorite floor generals before. While the six-foot-one Pritchard is nowhere near the underdog Isaiah Thomas was during his Cs tenure, both qualify as small point guards in today’s day and age.
Pritchard’s trade value is sky-high at the moment, and he may be the key to the team making a superstar acquisition. Though he was a late first-round pick just a few months ago, he has more value on the trade market than his fellow Celtics 2020 first-round draft mate, lottery pick Aaron Nesmith.
That said, there is absolutely no need to upset Boston sports fans, with both 2020 and 2021 bringing great pain in the form of a LeBron James/Los Angeles Lakers NBA title win and a Tom Brady Super Bowl win with a franchise not named the New England Patriots.
Ainge would have fans calling for his resignation if Pritchard was sent away in a deal for anything less than one of the league’s premier superstars.
The Kawhi Leonard and Anthony Davis ships have sailed long ago, though. Pritchard needs to stay in green and white for the foreseeable future.
Boston Celtics role player they shouldn’t deal #3: Marcus Smart
Some fans may object to the role player designation for Marcus Smart considering his Team USA stint and the fact that he oftentimes can be one of the top shot leaders on the team…even in the postseason.
That said, Smart is one of the most essential role players in the NBA. This current brutal Boston Celtics stretch–one that has the team sitting at .500 more than half-way through the season and in the bottom half of the playoff picture in the east–shows just how much the team misses his defensive tenacity and improved facilitation on the offensive end (career-high six assists per game in 2020-21).
Any deal that would help land a true difference-maker might have to include Smart. His $13 million cap figure makes him one of the non-Jays salaries that could be used to complement that duo with a third star.
Starting point guard Kemba Walker makes almost 3x that much and has not been contributing to winning basketball until the C’s recent two-game win streak. That said, the schedule is about to intensify, with four out of their next five being against projected postseason opponents and two of them being against the top teams in the west (Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz).
A losing stretch could have Ainge seeing red, and if he does enter trade discussions with guns blazing, Smart needs to be a name that remains on the Boston Celtics roster on March 26th and beyond.