Boston Celtics: Cs could trade Marcus Smart for John Collins, says B/R

The Boston Celtics have been quite an active group this offseason and, based off of their grueling 2020-21 season, it’s clear as to why Brad Stevens has made it a point to try and revamp the roster for rookie head coach, Ime Udoka.

Though they’ve seen some departures of key contributors from the past year or two in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, the C’s front office has seemingly made up for this with the potentially highly impactful additions of Al Horford, Josh Richardson, Enes Kanter, and this year’s biggest free agency steal in Dennis Schroder.

However, despite the numerous moves already made by Stevens and co., we still have plenty of time in which we could see the team make even more shakeups to the roster, be it via future signings off the free agency market throughout the season or, by means of our favorite avenue, trading for other talents across the league anytime between now and the trade deadline.

Already, we at the Houdini have discussed some transactions the shamrocks could execute this coming season on the trade market, with ideas ranging from simple TPE acquisitions to straight up blockbusters.

Recently, in a piece discussing ways in which every NBA team could trade away their worst contract, Bleacher Report writer, Zach Buckley, proposed the basis for a new package that would send recently re-signed Atlanta Hawks big man, John Collins (their worst contract, according to B/R) to the Boston Celtics in exchange for a combination of “Marcus Smart and draft picks, prospects or both in return.”

Coming off of a solid season in which he averaged per-game averages of 17.6 points, 7.4 boards, and a block on 55.6 percent shooting from the floor and nearly 40 percent shooting from deep, the fourth-year power forward was rewarded this offseason with a lucrative five year, $125 million deal by Atlanta.

Despite listing this contract as Atlanta’s “worst”, Buckley acknowledged that Collins is a stellar young talent in this league who, based on his production over the past several years, could easily be argued as being worth every penny:

"If the worst contract on your books is a non-max deal with a 23-year-old supplier of 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds the past three seasons, you’re probably handling your money right. That’s the case for the Hawks, who have splurged in all the right places and constructed one of the NBA’s deepest rosters."

Because of his skillset coupled with his specific offensive prowess, B/R is under the impression that, if the Hawks ever were to look into offloading Collins, the Boston Celtics should be interested in pursuing the young talent for, according to Buckley, “they’re in the market for a No. 3 scorer” to have run alongside stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

What say you Cs fans — do you believe the Celtics should be interested in a pursuit of John Collins if he ever were to be made available?

Would he be worth trading the likes of Marcus Smart for?

Whatever your thoughts are, leave your comments in the section below!