Boston Celtics: B/R ‘buying’ Cs getting a deal done to land Harrison Barnes

After a full week off from exhibitions, the Boston Celtics have officially embarked on their second-half journey for the 2020-21 season.

Heading into the All-Star break, Beantown was deemed as one of the most disappointing teams from the first half of action. Now, with 35 games to go, they now have a chance to get back to their preseason status of top-tier championship contenders and, in turn, legitimately vie for their 18th Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Before they can hop back into this illustrious stratosphere, however, there are many who believe the front office needs to make changes to the rotation… General Manager Danny Ainge is one of them.

Though the media has had a field day depicting what moves the Cs can make between now and year’s end to bolster their chances at contention, hypothesizing both big and small transactions, a player that often finds his way into the rumor mill is Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes.

B/R “partially buying” Harrison Barnes heading to the Boston Celtics

A versatile wing who can seemingly play positions from the two down to a small ball four, Barnes is viewed by many as the ‘ideal’ trade target for the Boston Celtics at this year’s deadline.

At this point, there is no reported momentum being made for the franchise to pursue the 28-year-old, but Bleacher Report is certainly ‘buying’ the idea that Ainge is interested in such a move, and is cautiously optimistic that a deal will eventually get done:

"Barnes fits neatly inside the “shooting with size” bucket. He is 6’8″ and swishing 39.2 percent of his threes, not to mention downing a career-best 55.4 percent of his twos. He also happens to fit neatly into the Celtics’ Gordon Hayward trade exception without forcing them to send out a larger salary to remain under the hard cap.Cost still figures to be an issue. Barnes is a complementary scorer and solid defender at both forward spots on a declining deal that pays him $36.8 million over the next two seasons. The Sacramento Kings aren’t moving him strictly for cap relief.Offering this year’s first-rounder and either another protected pick or one of their low-salaried youngsters is a good place for the Celtics to start."

On the season, the ninth-year veteran is posting impressive per-game averages of 16.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and just shy of a steal per game on 49 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep.