Despite getting off to a slow start to free agency, the Boston Celtics have seemingly struck gold with their recent signing of veteran point guard, Dennis Schroder, who was brought to town on a cost-efficient one-year, $5.9 million salary.
Easily one of the biggest steals during this year’s free agency period, Brad Stevens has managed to work his magic once more despite having minimal cap space at his disposal and snatched up a player at a position of need that has averaged 17.4 points, 5.3 assists, and 3.4 rebounds a game through the past five seasons.
That said, even with this move, long-term their one-guard rotation seems to be rather suspect, as the only player of note who finds himself under contract at the position past 2021-22 is soon-to-be sophomore, Payton Pritchard.
Because of this, perhaps it may be worth it for the front office to consider adding on a flier option at the point that they believe could be of service at some time down the road should they be properly developed.
We at HH have shared our thoughts in the past in regard to point guards in which we believe the Cs should think about acquiring for a long-term stay. Recently, Bleacher Report jumped in on the action and discussed the idea of Stevens and co. pursuing a deal with the Orlando Magic in an effort to acquire one of their many young guards.
The player: Cole Anthony.
The proposed deal reads as follows:
Citing their need for more depth at the point guard position as well as a need to better balance out the rest of their roster outside of said position, writer, Greg Swartz, believes that trading for the second-year talent could be a savvy move for the Boston Celtics to make:
"Anthony, 21, averaged 12.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 0.6 steals in 27.1 minutes as a rookie for the Magic last season, starting 34 of his 47 games. He could step right into the starting job in Boston, sharing the floor with young All-Stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who would help share ball-handling duties.While Anthony looked like a building block in Orlando, the Magic now have an overflow of point guards. They took Jalen Suggs with the fifth overall pick, and Markelle Fultz is due to return from a torn ACL. Suggs is big enough at 6’4″ to play either guard position, but he will be the primary initiator of the offense no matter where he lines up."
A player many believed the Boston Celtics should have drafted last season — and who was available even when the team was on the clock for the first time on the night — snagging him now may seem like an intriguing move for the franchise to make.
However, the fact that Swartz is suggesting throwing a future first-rounder Orlando’s way makes the concept of said deal less appealing to the Houdini, as he’s coming off of two injury-riddled seasons, one that severely impacted his production at UNC in 2018-19 and just last season where he missed nearly two months of action due to a rib injury.
Though perhaps a high-upside player, at this point in time we don’t believe a trade for the 21-year-old should be a high priority for the shamrocks.