The Boston Celtics were always slated to be a busy team during the 2021 NBA Offseason, but no one really knew just how quickly they’d get the ball rolling on their much-needed organizational shakeups.
Less than 24-hours after their first-round series loss to the Brooklyn Nets, it was announced that Danny Ainge would be stepping down from his front office duties within the organization and, in his place, Brad Stevens would drop the clipboard on the sidelines and move on up to fill the vacated role of President of Basketball Operations.
Then, a little over two weeks later, another notable move took place, as Stevens’ first move under his new title of President was a trade that sent starting point guard, Kemba Walker, from Boston to Oklahoma City in exchange for Moses Brown and former starting center for the Cs, Al Horford.
Now, with the smoke clearing from both of these sizable eruptions, many are seemingly just waiting around to see what other moves could be made between now and the tip-off to the 2021-22 campaign.
Though there are some who believe only a handful more of transactions will be made, there are others who are under the impression that come next year, this Boston Celtics team could look completely different from what it did in 2020-21.
Between now and October 19th (the planned tip-off date for next season) there are likely to be many rumors pertaining to the shamrocks, with numerous players likely to be linked to the franchise as possible targets, be it by means of free agency or, perhaps the more realistic avenue, trade.
While we at HH certainly are not opposed to either course of action, as it would only lead to bringing on some much-needed extra talent to surround Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with, there are some players that we believe the Cs should be wary of pursuing.
When it comes down to potential trade targets, there are 2, in specific, that Boston should look to avoid this offseason:
Boston Celtics target to avoid No. 1) Jonas Valanciunas
Listed by Bleacher Report as being the best trade the team ‘could actually make this offseason’, the idea of Jonas Valanciunas manning the middle for the Boston Celtics is actually quite an intriguing thought to ponder on.
Coming off of arguably his best season as a pro, through 62 outings played the 29-year-old big man posted impressive averages of 17.1 points, 12.5 assists, and just shy of a block per game on 59 percent shooting from the floor and just about 37 percent shooting from deep.
Proving to be one of the best rebounders and rim-protectors in the game today, Valanciunas’ skill set is actually something that could be of great service to Boston, and at 7-0 his size is something that has been missing from the team’s starting frontcourt for quite some time now.
So, with all this in mind, why might we suggest that trade for him may be a bad idea?
Well, frankly, it comes down to two major factors — the price it would take to get him and his contract situation.
As we said already, the man is coming off of perhaps his best season as an NBA player, which leads us to believe that the Memphis Grizzlies, who just made it to their first postseason appearance in four years with him as their starting five, will want a significant package in return for Valanciunas.
In the aforementioned B/R piece discussing the Lithuanian-born baller being a trade target for the Celtics, writer Greg Swartz proposed a deal centered around a first-round draft pick and Aaron Nesmith being sent to Memphis.
With the fact that Boston has already given up their 2021 draft rights in the Kemba deal, they shouldn’t be looking to part with anymore unless it’s for an established star and, in our honest opinion, giving up on Nesmith after just one season doesn’t seem like the right thing for the front office to do, especially with the promise he showed towards the end of the season — 9.7 points on 45 percent shooting from deep in final 10 games.
Add in the fact that the center is only under contract through next season, and the Boston Celtics ultimately could end up parting with relatively valuable assets all for a potential one-year rental.
Boston Celtics target to avoid No. 2) Bradley Beal
Ok, so seeing Bradley Beal on a list discussing potential trade targets the Boston Celtics should try to avoid may be a bit confusing at first glance, but hear us out for a second.
Of course we believe that both star power and scoring prowess is important in this league and, by all means, Beal is one of the top scoring All-Stars the game has today — finished second in the league in points per game last season with 31.3.
Yes, bringing the guard to Beantown would give the team yet another All-NBA caliber player to partner with Jayson Tatum, thus forming one of the most lethal offensive punches in the NBA.
However, if they were to look into trading for him this offseason, what would the cost wind up being?
Without question, talks for the 28-year-old would almost certainly involve the likes of Jaylen Brown and several future firsts being sent down to Washington D.C.
Now, to some this seems reasonable and should be considered.
That said, we at the Houdini are more under the impression that unless someone like Damian Lillard is involved, Brown is a player worth holding onto, especially considering that the franchise could wind up being in the running to sign Beal outright come the summer of 2022.
In the trade that sent Kemba Walker to OKC, the Boston Celtics managed to line themselves up for the opportunity to have over $20 million in cap room come next offseason which, in theory, could wind up turning into around $34 million should they play their cards right with extensions, free agent signings, and non-guaranteed contracts.
With all this money potentially at their disposal, Brad Stevens could opt to try his luck on the 2022 free agency market, where Beal could wind up being available should he turn down his player option for 2022-23 (based on the current trends in the NBA, such a hypothetical is quite realistic).
Salary space coupled with his apparent eagerness to join a winning franchise and his strong relationship with Tatum that dates back to their time as youths in St. Louis all could have a huge impact on where the 3x All-Star opts to sign his next contract.
With all this in mind, wouldn’t you rather the Boston Celtics try to pursue Bradley Beal next summer to have him team up with the likes of Tatum AND Brown rather than acquire him by means of trading the latter Jay this offseason?
I know I would!