Trade season is among us NBA fans, and we here at the Houdini have high hopes for what Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics planning on doing between now and the March 25th deadline.
It’s no secret that the Cs have been massive disappointments through the first half of the 2020-21 schedule, finding themselves with a mere 17-17 record after having been the third seed in the Eastern Conference standings just last season while also making it to their third Conference Finals in four seasons.
Because of these unfortunate mishaps, General Manager Danny Ainge has gone on record of saying this team, as currently constructed, is not good enough to win a championship and, in turn, could look to the trade market to bring on players to help better complement Boston’s star wings, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
While there are many options the Boston Celtics could consider dealing for to help bolster their roster moving forward, in a recent article by Bleacher Report, writer Zach Buckley is under the impression that the franchise could be a surprise contender to land stud two-way guard, Victor Oladipo.
B/R believes Boston Celtics could be a realistic landing spot for Victor Oladipo
After reportedly turning down a multi-year contract extension with the Houston Rockets earlier this week, the trade rumor mill began to revolve once more in regard to the former All-Star, and B/R believes the Boston Celtics could be in play to nab him.
"Let’s say Oladipo goes kaboom with his next team and wants to return. They are still on the hook for doling out what should be near-max money. Suitors need to have the stomach to lose him or pay him.That sort of describes the Boston Celtics. They have two other star wings—Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum—and are working from an inherently stronger position than smaller markets. Giving up a pick and one of their young players on rookie-scale contracts doesn’t cripple them.General manager Danny Ainge has said his team wants to acquire size and shooting. Oladipo doesn’t necessarily check either box. He stands 6’4″ and has hit more than 37 percent of his threes for an entire season only once. He was converting 43.3 percent of his catch-and-fire treys before leaving Indiana but mostly steers Boston deeper into its reliance on pull-up jumpers.Is that the worst thing in the world? The Celtics’ dependence on those looks isn’t just going away. Only the Portland Trail Blazers take more pull-up jumpers per game. Peak Oladipo maximizes that shot profile while offering enough strength and disruption to guard wings. He also gets to the rim more often than Brown, Tatum and Kemba Walker."
Buckley would go on to state that even if this hypothetical acquisition didn’t end up working out in the end, it would still be a risk worth taking for the Boston Celtics, as his contract could easily be absorbed into the Gordon Hayward TPE which would make the original method of attaining him unbelievably simplistic — at least, as far as salary is concerned.
We here at the Houdini have shown our interest in the shamrocks getting involved in a Victor Oladipo trade many times in the past and if the wing could be attained without giving up any core players, it should be a move worth considering.
Sure, they obviously need a big man more than a shooting guard, but a talent such as Oladipo isn’t found at such a low price very often. Should they make a move such as this, perhaps they could send over some extra players to clear up roster spots and, with this, then go on to pursue some bigs found on the buyout market.
At the very least, it’s a concept worth considering.