Boston Celtics: 3 players to target with Enes Kanter’s $4.8 million TPE

Boston Celtics trade target No. 3) Hassan Whiteside

Recently, Bleacher Report listed “size” as the biggest need for the Boston Celtics at this year’s deadline and, with this, brought up some very valid points as to why:

"Boston is surrendering the sixth-highest opponents’ field-goal percentage within three feet of the rim and is barely in the top half of the league in defensive rebounding percentage. The ability to play positionless on both sides of the floor is a plus, but in the Eastern Conference, with potential matchups against Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo on the horizon, bigger options than Thompson (6’9″), Daniel Theis (6’8″) and Robert Williams III (6’8″) might help."

All things considered, a cheap way they can go about filling this void in the rotation would be to pursue the likes of Sacramento Kings defensive stalwart, Hassan Whiteside.

Through 24 games played, the 31-year-old is posting 8.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game on 58 percent shooting from the field in just 14.8 minutes per game. Per 36 minutes, these numbers find themselves converting into an insane 19.9 points, 14 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks per game.

While some can argue that one cannot trust per-36 conversions, the fact is we’ve actually seen Whiteside post similar numbers in the past when serving as his respective team’s starting pivot, most recently last season with the Portland Trail Blazers where he averaged 15.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, a league-leading 2.9 blocks, and had a 3.2 box plus/ minus, which was second-best on the team only behind Damian Lillard.

At 7-0, 265-pounds Whiteside clearly would fill the team’s need for size down low, while his track record for being a rim-protecting enforcer could actually wind up benefiting the Cs come playoff time.