Boston Celtics: Trade or evade, what to do about Collin Sexton

A very interesting tidbit of information hit the news cycle this morning: Collin Sexton may be hitting the trade market this summer if the Cleveland Cavaliers get gun-shy about pulling the trigger on a (potentially pricey) extension. Would we be the Houdini if we didn’t wonder how the Boston Celtics might get involved?

Boston, of course, already rolled the dice financially with a max deal for a point guard with their current floor general, Kemba Walker. The results have been mixed so far, but his constant injury-related absences make it hard to call it a slam dunk.

Walker is (and has been) a depreciating asset whose salary will be raising over the next two seasons…the last of which is a player option. Walker could end up playing his way into more money with a renaissance 2021-22 season, but given what the Cs have seen so far, it would be hard to justify re-upping him on a long-term deal.

So, heading into the 2021 offseason–assuming the Boston Celtics don’t do the unthinkable and take three of the next five games against the most star-studded team in the NBA–Danny Ainge will have to ask himself if this roster is good enough to seriously contend for a title not just in 2021-22, but beyond.

Marcus Smart is due for an extension himself in 2022, so we’re inching closer to having a capped out roster if he isn’t a goner himself this offseason. Ainge failed to guarantee either his or Walker’s return as of yet.

If the Cs fail to beat the current Nets this series, that means that keeping this team together would be the result of coming to the conclusion that things would be different if Jaylen Brown had been healthy.

No Boston Celtics fan should seriously believe that after the results of the 2020-21 season.

Ipso facto, if Ainge can somehow pull off a deal to bring in a third 24ppg scorer who slashed 47/37/81 and averaged around the same number of assists as Walker who is nine years younger and under team control for at least five more seasons, a trade must be made if the Jays aren’t included in the outgoing package.