Boston Celtics: Trade deadline deals were good, but they barely move the needle

After all the rumors and speculation surrounding the Boston Celtics heading into the NBA trade deadline, fans were hopeful that Danny Ainge and the crew would land a big fish or make some waves in the trade market.

The deadline didn’t quite end with a bang for Boston, but it didn’t go quietly, either.

The Celtics made a move to bring in Orlando Magic guard Evan Fournier in exchange for Jeff Teague and two second-round picks on Thursday morning, and they followed that up with a smaller move that sent center Daniel Theis and guard Javonte Green to Chicago in exchange for centers Moritz Wagner and Luke Kornet.

Both deals weren’t bad. In fact, the Fournier move, in particular, did a lot to address the Celtics’ glaring needs for more bench production and overall scoring outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. If he starts, that likely pushes someone like Marcus Smart to the bench, which helps the C’s depth there. If Fournier doesn’t start, then he himself will help Boston’s bench production.

At 19.7 points per game on nearly 39% shooting from three this season, Fournier should add some much-needed firepower to a Celtics team that has massively struggled to find consistent scoring outside of Tatum and Brown.

Wagner isn’t a bad addition, and shipping off Theis — who is set to become a free agent after this season — along with both Teague and Green helps Boston’s salary cap situation.

While all those moves look to benefit the Celtics in the short term, do they really do much to move the needle in the long term?

In typical Danny Ainge fashion, the trade that brought in Fournier has some nifty potential repercussions to it. Because Boston gets Fournier’s Bird Rights as part of their deal with Orlando, the 28-year-old wing can be a valuable trade chip and gives the Celtics a chance to create another sizeable TPE in a sign-and-trade much like what they did with Gordon Hayward this past offseason.

That may be intriguing and could lead to bigger things down the line, but it could also not pan out to anything majorly significant. Boston could also elect to re-sign Fournier, and while he looks to be a positive addition to the roster, does his presence really push the Celtics closer to their goal of competing for a title?

The moves before this year’s trade deadline should help the Boston Celtics climb back above .500 and avoid the play-in games for the NBA Playoffs. Beyond that, do they make Boston much more of a title contender this year or in the next few years?

If we’re being honest, other teams around or below the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference standings look like they did more to propel themselves forward both this season and in the future. Especially the Chicago Bulls.

Chicago netted All-Star center Nikola Vucevic and forward Al-Farouq Aminu from Orlando along with adding Theis and Green from the Celtics and Troy Brown Jr. from the Washington Wizards. That’s a complete overhaul of their frontcourt. Those moves position the Bulls to make a run in the closing half of the regular season, and they currently sit just a game-and-a-half behind the Celtics for the eighth seed in the East and only three games back from the Charlotte Hornets for the fourth seed.

Boston needed more bench production, more three-point shooting, and another scoring option for whenever Brown or Tatum isn’t on the court. In those areas, the Celtics did a good job at the trade deadline of addressing needs.

These moves, however, have the potential to just be short-term fixes.

Patience is a virtue, but it’s not one that many NBA fans are blessed with having. For Celtics fans, patience may be the answer right now. Boston’s moves at the deadline should improve the outlook of the rest of this season, but the ultimate move — or moves — to truly impact the franchise’s future may not come till this offseason or even later.

If nothing else, the Boston Celtics should be more fun to watch on offense for the rest of this season, and there will be more competition at a couple of positions. How this changes Boston’s future remains to be seen, but the overall trajectory of the franchise doesn’t seem all that different than a day or two ago.