Boston Celtics: John Collins traded to Cs in latest B/R piece

Once the 2020-21 campaign came to its bitter end during the early days of June, fans and media alike all were under the impression that the Boston Celtics would be looking to make some sizeable shakeups to their organization this summer in an effort to better position themselves for greater success come 2021-22.

Literally, within hours after their first-round loss against the Brooklyn Nets, the Cs got the ball rolling on their offseason makeover, as Danny Ainge stepped down from his duties as President of Basketball Operations and, in his place, Brad Stevens dropped the clipboard and moved his way up into the front office role.

A few short weeks after this ordeal, the franchise struck again, as they dealt starting point guard, Kemba Walker, to the OKC Thunder in exchange for a package centered around Al Horford.

Now, close to the mid-stage of July, it’s become quite evident that the Boston Celtics are willing to roll the dice and, in turn, strive to look completely different come tip-off to next season, as they already have a new President, will have a new starting floor general, and a new coach in Ime Udoka.

With just over three months remaining for the offseason, it’s fun to envision what else Stevens and co. may do to restructure the team.

While we here at HH have our own beliefs as to what could be done and who the Celtics should look to pursue, we are most certainly not the only publication sharing their thoughts on the matter.

Recently, Bleacher Report chimed in with a trade Boston may wish to consider making this summer that would land them a highly talented youngster at a position still in need of a long-term solution.

The specific trade reads as follows:

Citing the potential for offensive struggles outside of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown now with Kemba in Oklahoma City, coupled with the youthful age of John Collins (23) that perfectly fits the timeline of the C’s star wings, writer, Zach Buckley, believes acquiring the big man could prove to be a highly impactful move for Boston.

"The Celtics need a third scorer to replace Kemba Walker’s production, and the Hawks need a perimeter stopper to help Trae Young from getting overexposed. The puzzle pieces could align for a win-win swap.John Collins needs a new deal, and Atlanta seems less than committal about paying it. Hawks governor Tony Ressler said the team hopes to reach a “fair agreement” with Collins, per The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, which makes it sound like there’s a walk-away price point for Atlanta.The Celtics could be more willing to meet that number since Collins is on the same timeline as star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. With these three leading the offense, Boston could have the backbone of a top-10 attack."

Now, this is certainly not the first time fans have seen the Boston Celtics linked to the fourth year big as a potential trade candidate, as the Houdini has proposed the idea of dealing for John Collins on multiple occasions during this past season alone.

Coming off of a tremendous season with the Eastern Conference runner ups, the Atlanta Hawks, the power forward posted impressive per-game averages of 17.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, and a block on 55 percent shooting from the floor and just about 40 percent shooting from deep.

A stellar athlete with the ability to flush it home at the rim and stroke it from long range, a talent like Collins has not been seen in the frontcourt for the Celtics in quite some time.

Should they be on the fence about re-upping with Marcus Smart next offseason, perhaps this move proposed by Buckley isn’t such a bad idea for the shamrocks to consider pursuing, as it would add a tremendous third scoring option and, frankly, a third building block to run alongside the Jays as well as give the team a definitive answer to their frontcourt woes moving forward.

As far as value is concerned, this seems to be a very enticing trade for the Boston Celtics to consider.