Boston Celtics: 2 surprise offseason trade candidates

Boston Celtics player No. 2) Marcus Smart

I know, you hate to see the life-blood of Boston Celtics basketball over the past several seasons on a list involving potential offseason trade candidates but, alas, here we are.

This past trade deadline, we started to hear rumblings about Marcus Smart being coveted by teams like the Atlanta Hawks who, in exchange, were rumored to be open to including the likes of John Collins in such a scenario.

Now, while the C’s front office has dispelled such notion that the Swiss Army man was ever included in talks, typically speaking, where there’s smoke there’s generally fire, and, the more time goes by, the more it might make trading Smart a real possibility.

After this season, the 26-year-old will have one year remaining on his contract and, with current averages of 13.5 points, 5.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game on 41 percent shooting from the floor and 35 percent shooting from deep, it’s safe to say he’s looking to get a nice payday.

With the fact that Boston’s salary is already a mess, re-signing a will-be 28-year-old Marcus Smart might not be seen as the best way to spend their money, especially if they find themselves with as many holes within the rotation as they do now.

The seven-year-veteran could prove to be of great service to many teams across the league and, in turn, could warrant a pretty penny in return for his services.

Perhaps revisiting the idea for a deal involving Collins via sign-and-trade (the big man will be a restricted free agent this summer) might not be such a bad scenario come the offseason.