Boston Celtics: 3 trade targets with leftover $11M of Gordon Hayward TPE

In his first offseason serving as President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics, Brad Stevens is going to have his work cut out for him.

After such a disappointing season that was the 2020-21 campaign, the Cs are in desperate need of some major shakeups and, based on their current salary cap situation, it would appear that utilizing the trade market is one of the more likely routes in which the front office will embark on in an effort to bring on some new impactful talents.

Of course, the most buzzed-about hypothetical transaction Boston media is focusing on involves the likes of Damian Lillard coming to Beantown, but this sort of move would likely require many moving pieces and giving up more valuable assets than fans would like to see.

Though we’re certainly not suggesting the Celtics should sit out on talks for the superstar point guard, some of us at the Houdini believe it may be more of a realistic endeavor for them to try and make smaller deals that would involve fewer assets being moved in the process.

Perhaps one method the front office could try out is simply utilizing the remaining available money left from the Gordon Hayward Traded Player Exception they received last offseason — remember that?!

While they used $17 million of the TPE at this year’s NBA Trade Deadline on Evan Fournier, they still find themselves with roughly $11 million at their disposal, which they’ll be able to use this offseason up until mid-August.

Should they go down this route, and pursue players with what remains of this financial luxury, we at HH believe there are 3 players worth targeting:

Boston Celtics TPE target No. 1) Thomas Bryant

This summer, the Washington Wizards are a team to monitor closely. After yet another first-round playoff exit, many believe (likely based on hope rather than actual inside knowledge) that franchise cornerstone Bradley Beal could grow tired of the mediocre level of play in the nation’s capital and, in turn, request a trade.

Should this happen, obviously the Boston Celtics should inquire about him, but also, if he’s deemed too pricy, the team should strongly consider smaller deals for some of their other players — after all, should Beal go, Washington would be starting from scratch and, in turn, likely partake in some sort of firesale.

One player on the Wizards that could be of some value for the Cs should they opt to blow their roster up is fourth-year center, Thomas Bryant.

Prior to going down with a partially torn ACL tear in early January, the 23-year-old was having himself a really nice campaign as the starting center for Washington.

In 27.1 minutes per game, Bryant saw himself averaging 14.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and just shy of a block on 65 percent shooting from the floor and a stellar 43 percent shooting from deep.

Now, four months removed from having successful surgery, the center’s timetable for a return has not yet been noted — traditionally, recovery periods are 9-to-12 months for ACL tears.

However, even if he winds up missing a bit of time early on into next season, Thomas Bryant’s build of 6-10, 248-pounds coupled with his impressive all-around skill set, high-motor, and age could be enticing enough to throw a low-ball offer Washington’s way