Boston Celtics: B/R lists D.J. Augustin as surprise Cs trade target

On new Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ to-do list at this point of the season is acquiring a point guard to replace the depth lost at the position when Kemba Walker was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Marcus Smart is the assumed starter at the 1 currently, but there are a ton of what-ifs that will determine whether or not that will remain the case.

Among them are the fates of Yam Madar–who could be making his way to the United States this coming season given his recent stateside arrival–and Evan Fournier. Signing the former with the MLE could signal a move back to the 2 for Smart to open up enough minutes for Payton Pritchard and the 2020 second-round draft stash. Re-signing the latter could mean that there won’t be many resources to sign a new PG and Smart is certain to be a full-time starting floor general.

Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes thought of an alternative: taking to the trade market to acquire a veteran point guard. Hughes listed 1 surprise trade target for every team, and for the Boston Celtics, he listed D.J. Augustin:

"Kemba Walker is gone, Marcus Smart has immense value but doesn’t quite fit that mold, and Payton Pritchard hasn’t shown much facilitating knack yet. Two-way guard Tremont Waters may not be ready yet, and Yam Madar, a point guard Boston has stashed overseas, will need seasoning if he makes the jump to the NBA next year.D.J. Augustin is a bit overpaid at $7 million for 2021-22, but he’d fit the bill.Boston could give Augustin 20 minutes per game and know it was getting low-usage, high-efficiency shooting (37.9 percent from deep for his career) and capable facilitating that wouldn’t eat into the touches Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown need."

Augustin is a 12-year veteran that would bring stability to the point guard position. While his contributions have never been flashy, Augustin has proven in the past to be capable of starting on a postseason-caliber squad.

He hasn’t averaged double digit shot attempts in seven seasons, either, proving Hughes’ point that he won’t eat into the touches of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

If the Houston Rockets would take the contract of Tristan Thompson, we may have the chance for a deal here.