Boston Celtics: Cs great wants team to trade for Porter Jr., Towns

After a grueling 2020-21 campaign where they found themselves finishing in the seventh seed with a mere .500 record of 36-36, the Boston Celtics look to have inched two games closer to the end of their misery.

A hard-fought Game One loss to the Brooklyn Nets was recently followed up with a grueling blowout Game Two defeat this past Tuesday, leading many to believe that this first-round best-of-seven series could be wrapped up in four.

Should this happen, the Cs will be heading into the offseason with a myriad of questions that need answering. Perhaps the biggest of them all — how is this front office going to get this team back to championship contention status?

In all likelihood, due to their cash-strapped salary situation, the most likely route Danny Ainge and co. will take should they look to make sizeable talent alterations this offseason — they should — will be via the trade market where we could feasibly see a few deals take place, be it big or small, expected or out of the box.

Recently, former Boston Celtics great and 1981 NBA Finals MVP, Cedric Maxwell, stepped into the conversation of hypothetical offseason trades for the shamrocks with NBC Sports Boston and pitched the concept of Ainge and co. pursuing two Western Conference young studs.

His idea: target Michael Porter Jr. and Karl-Anthony Towns this summer.

"“Karl-Anthony Towns is the person I’d like to see,” Maxwell said. “He’s a big that can rebound the basketball. If you don’t do that, maybe a team like Denver and make a move for [Michael] Porter Jr. who’s an unbelievable scorer and about seven feet tall.”"

Of course, the cost of landing one of these two aforementioned stars would come at the expense of either Jayson Tatum or, perhaps the more likely, Jaylen Brown which, without a doubt, would be a tough decision for Boston Celtics fans to accept.

However, Maxwell believes such a move might be necessary for the team to get back to their winning ways, and even equated this hypothetical scenario to Ainge’s decision to trade Al Jefferson back in 2007 for Kevin Garnett:

"“Al Jefferson was a guy who made the Kevin Garnett trade happen,” he said. “Tommy Heinsohn said “if you trade Al Jefferson, I’m quitting.” And, immedietly, Kevin Garnett comes in and changes the culture of this team and they started to win. So, sometimes, and I know Danny Ainge made that trade, so you have to be willing to make those kind of moves.”"

He later would go on to say that, when dealing with a team like Boston, drastic moves sometimes must be made and that the goal is not to make the playoffs but, rather, to raise banners.

"“Danny Ainge has always said, and he’s learned from Red Auerbach, never fall in love with the product because you might have to make changes. So, I think Danny Ainge is probably looking at it, especially now with the way this team has played and, unfortunately here in Boston it’s not about getting to the playoffs, it’s not about getting to the second round, third, whatever. It’s about winning championships, and, in order to do that, you’re going to have to make some drastic changes with this team.”"

Now, while the idea of trading for Karl-Anthony Towns is something we at the Houdini have discussed rather recently, the concept of bringing on either him or Michael Porter Jr. is certainly one that should have the interest of Boston Celtics fans piqued.

The only question is, what would you be willing to give up to land one of said players?

Would you be open to the idea of giving up one of the team’s All-Star wings, or do you believe such a move is unwise?

Whatever your thoughts are, make sure to leave them in the comments section below!