Boston Celtics: Tristan Thompson traded to Spurs in latest B/R mock trade

Bleacher Report is seeing what the Houdini is seeing when it comes to the Boston Celtics and their roster construction. Tristan Thompson’s place on the depth chart is unclear, and the best way forward is to find an alternative way of spending his $9.7 million salary-cap figure and sending him out of town via trade.

In his latest piece titled Realistic Trades We Could See During NBA Draft Week, B/R’s Greg Swartz constructed a pure salary dump that would send Thompson to the Alamo City as a member of the San Antonio Spurs.

The deal returns SA’s 2021 second-round pick, currently slated to be two spots ahead of the Boston Celtics’ lone 2021 NBA Draft pick at #45. 

Swartz didn’t hold back in his assessment of Thompson’s current situation as a potential benchwarmer with the Cs:

"Even though Thompson served as Boston’s starting center in 43 of his 54 games last season, the 30-year-old big man may have fallen all the way down to fourth on the depth chart following the Celtics’ latest trade. Swapping Kemba Walker for Al Horford and Moses Brown added a veteran center and a 21-year-old to Boston’s frontcourt, one that already contained Robert Wiliams III."

On the other hand, he did see Thompson being a potentially useful piece for the Spurs in this hypothetical scenario:

"Thompson would compete with Jakob Poeltl for the starting center job for a Spurs team who ranked just 24th in rebounding last season (48.5 percent). San Antonio can have up to $49.1 million in cap space, so it would have room for a max free agent even if it takes on Thompson."

The Spurs are in a state of flux as a franchise, with Dejounte Murray and Derrick White being rumored to be on the trade block, and DeMar DeRozan is expected to find a new home in free agency, with both Los Angeles teams seen as possibilities. 

The Spurs could be in the position to grab the veteran center in hopes of rebuilding his trade value and moving him as an expiring contract at the trade deadline. While the NBA Play-in tournament gives more teams hope to make the postseason, it’s hard to see how San Antonio could realistically contend in 2021-22 barring something drastic going down in free agency.

This deal could work, but Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens may want to act quick before he has Thompson buried on the bench eating up a good chunk of the salary cap a la DeAndre Jordan on the Brooklyn Nets this past season.