Boston Celtics: 2 trades worth considering for Eric Bledsoe

Boston Celtics swap Marcus Smart for Eric Bledsoe and a 2021 first-round pick

In order to part ways with Kemba Walker this past June, Brad Stevens unfortunately had to include the C’s 16th overall pick in this year’s draft, thus leaving them without a first-round selection for the first time since 2002.

With this trade, we manage to get the Boston Celtics back into the fun while also landing the estranged veteran guard in Bledsoe as well.

As we saw with Walker, a devalued veteran player on a lofty contract is not an easy commodity to part with and, in doing so, the Pelicans may be forced to attach capital to him simply to pique another team’s interest.

Here, we see exactly this scenario take place with Bledsoe and the 10th pick in this year’s draft heading to Boston in exchange for Marcus Smart and Grant Williams.

Now, clearly the biggest name on the move in this scenario is Smart and, right off the bat, we’re sure many fans will be completely against such an idea.

That said, it has already been speculated that once the Swiss Army man’s contract expires come the conclusion of 2021-22, he could potentially price himself out of Boston’s price range.

Because of this, the media — admittedly, including ourselves — has already started discussing who/ what the C’s front office could look to get for him via trade rather than potentially losing him for nothing come next offseason.

Should the fear of this becoming a reality grow stronger, perhaps swapping him out for a player of a similar skill-set AND a first-rounder could be enough for them to pull the trigger on making a deal.

With this transaction, the Celtics — as made evident by this article alone — land Bledsoe along with the No. 10 pick in this year’s draft, where they’ll likely find themselves in the running for prospects such as Ziaire Williams, Corey Kispert, and James Bouknight (among others).

In return, NOLA bring back Grant Williams (a reliable floor-spacing four in his third-season), Romeo Langford, and, easily the biggest draw, Smart who, due to both his on-court production (13.1 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 boards per game last season) and ample postseason experience (seven playoff appearances including three Conference Finals trips) could be the right piece to help in Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram’s quest for their first postseason berth.

Fear is, should New Orleans underwhelm once again this coming year, Zion could look for a trade out of town.

Because of this, making win-now moves should be a priority for David Griffin and the rest of the team’s front office, and swapping out Bledsoe for a package centered around Smart and his expiring contract could be a route worth embarking on to secure both financial flexibility as well as adding a more experienced commodity in regard to aiding towards a winning culture.