Boston Celtics: 3 players from recently eliminated teams Cs should pursue

Boston Celtics trade target #1: CJ McCollum

The sky isn’t falling just yet for the Trailblazers, but Chicken Little may be boarding his Amtrak to the Portland Union Station as we speak. Terry Stotts has been let go from his head coaching post–one he has held since 2013–and Damian Lillard’s main coaching choice, Jason Kidd, has no interest in coaching the Blazers.

So, there could be major moves on the horizon for the Pacific Northwestern franchise who was just eliminated in six games at the hands of Nikola Jokic and an injury-riddled Denver Nuggets team missing their #2 star Jamal Murray.

Built as constructed, Portland isn’t going to make noise in the Western Conference. Not with two top-heavy Los Angeles franchises, a budding megastar in Luka Doncic, emerging contenders in Phoenix and Utah, and even Denver at full strength.

Perhaps a firesale could be imminent, or at the very least, a reshuffling of the deck around Damian Lillard.

Zach Lowe certainly seems to think that’s possible, mentioning the possibility of Portland hunting for a McCollum deal (transcript via Blazer’s Edge):

"“Could you trade McCollum for something that fits better around Dame? And I think the tough spot there is other teams view CJ McCollum as a very good player who’s a number three guy on a great team and I think the results in Portland bear that out.” “So if you trade CJ McCollum it’s not like you’re going to magically somehow get a great number two player in exchange for him that fits better with Dame, what you’re really trying to get is an equivalent player on the NBA’s total hierarchy who fits better with Dame and flipping a number three for a number three who fits better…"

McCollum has a hefty $100 million price tag on his remaining three seasons, so finding a third party to absorb Kemba Walker would be needed to facilitate a deal. If the said third team could provide Portland with a #2 option for Lillard, there could be traction for a blockbuster Boston Celtics backcourt shuffle.