Boston Celtics: 3 players Cs could trade Marcus Smart for

The 2020-21 Boston Celtics season revealed plenty about the makeup of the team. Namely, as it stands, the Cs are not capable of contending with their current roster.

And hey, the Houdini would love to be dead wrong about that one. But unless the Cs sweep the Orlando Magic and Chicago Bulls and take at least one game against the Miami Heat in the next week, Boston is headed towards being the first #7 seed in history to have to earn their way into the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

No #7 seed has ever won the NBA Championship. If any year promises to be different, it could be the pandemic-stricken, quarter-capacity (if not downright empty arena) season we are currently witnessing.

But basketball is basketball no matter who is watching. Nothing the Cs have displayed on the hardwood has really proven it’s possible for them to overcome a potential gauntlet of Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia in consecutive series’.

The offseason could see a reset, and, given his 2022 free agent status, Marcus Smart could be used as a means for the team to improve. It’s not as though Smart is a reason the team isn’t winning…far from it.

That said, it’s a business, and Smart understands that. He certainly sounded like a man at piece with the idea during this year’s trade deadline:

"“Especially if you’ve been in one place for a very long time and your name comes up in trade rumors, you’re definitely just preparing for anything to happen. So, I wasn’t really concerned, but I was prepared.”"

If this is the year Danny Ainge parts with the longest-tenured Celtics on the roster, these 3 players should be his primary target in a return:

Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart trade target #1: Bogdan Bogdanović

Bogdan Bogdanović is just one year the elder of the 27-year-old Smart, but he already got his massive payday.

$72 million was the price the Atlanta Hawks paid to bring on the Serbian shooting stud, and his 45/42/89 splits have paid off for the Peach State handsomely.

The price tag for Smart may exceed that, and though he is a superior defender, his offensive inefficiency has proven crippling at times during the postseason. While he is a superior playmaker, Boston could target pass-first guard play in the draft or free agency to make up for losing Smart’s near-six assists per game.