Boston Celtics: 3 “bad contracts” worth trading for this offseason

Though the Boston Celtics have a play-in tournament to participate in and, in turn, a chance to make it to their seventh-straight postseason appearance, everyone knows that the 2020-21 season is one we all need to forget and that needs to come to an end as soon as possible.

Coming into the year with such hope and promise, ranking in as having the fourth-best odds of winning it all according to Vegas, Beantown finished out the regular season with a measly .500 record of 36-36, nabbing them the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference standings.

This, of course, is a major letdown when considering how highly the Cs were touted coming in, and how much success they’ve found over the last several years, with just last season seeing their third Eastern Conference Finals berth since 2017.

With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that General Manager, Danny Ainge, came out recently and hinted that the team could undergo some serious roster turnover this summer.

Perhaps the biggest question on everyone’s mind is who might be finding themselves on the chopping block.

The top name that fans seemingly wish to see sent packing this offseason, of course, is Kemba Walker, who finds himself constantly injured and will still be an annual salary of about $35 million through the next two years.

Last offseason, it was reported that Ainge “tried like hell” to trade the former All-Star but, alas, nothing wound up transpiring.

Ultimately, should the front office wish to take part in some sort of deal involving the veteran point guard, it’ll likely come at the cost of either giving up a young player, packaging in draft capital, or even having another “bad contract” come back to the Boston Celtics in return.

Though it would certainly not be ideal, should the shamrocks opt to go the latter route and take on a player owed money on a similar negatively-viewed deal, we at HH believe there are 3 players that could wind up being worth the gamble:

“Bad contract” Boston Celtics target No. 1) Al Horford,

Al Horford was snatched up by the Philadelphia 76ers during the summer of 2019, as he was signed to an egregious $109 million contract with $96 million guaranteed.

Fizzling out with the Sixers, the veteran was sent packing via trade to the OKC Thunder during the summer of 2020 where, in turn, he actually had himself quite a solid rebound campaign.

Through 28 games (ultimately benched to give younger guys more time on the court) Horford posted averages of 14.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 38 percent shooting from deep.

Now, coming into the offseason, Oklahoma City’s top priority is to try and trade the 34-year-old to a team that could be more benefited by his attributes and expertise.

Perhaps that team could be a familiar place to the 5x All-Star in the Boston Celtics.

The three years he spent with the franchise were filled with quite a ton of success including two Eastern Conference Finals appearances, an All-Star nod, and an All-Defensive selection on top of per-game averages of 13.5 points, seven rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.2 blocks on 50 percent shooting from the floor and 38 percent shooting from deep.

Since he left, Ainge and co. have been trying to plug in the 6-9 sized hole down at the pivot with a myriad of different experiments.

Though two years older than when he last donned the green and white threads, perhaps the still productive Horford could once again come in and serve as the C’s starting five.