Hardwood Houdini is susceptible to having new developments change our perspective on how the Boston Celtics roster should be constructed.
When Juan Herangomez came aboard this summer, we foresaw a potential starting role, and Cs President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens felt the same given the hypothetical fit alongside Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
And listen, it’s early enough for the man they call ‘Juancho’ to become that perfect power forward fit in the starting lineup.
But it also appears as though Al Horford might be best suited at the starting 4 spot alongside Robert Williams in a supersized first five. And Grant Williams’ improvement may be the true threat to Hernangomez finding a role in the rotation.
So it’s possible that Hernangomez could be hit with some DNP-CDs in the opening portion of the season. If that happens, we can’t help but think that Stevens could look to the trade market to find a better fit with his $7 million cap figure.
Here are 3 potential Boston Celtics trade options for the Spanish big man:
Boston Celtics Juan Hernangomez trade option #1: Zach Collins
Zach Collins only made $7 million in free agency this past summer because of an ankle injury (and subsequent re-injury) in 2020-21 that limited him to just 11 games.
The San Antonio Spurs may have gotten bargain value for a guy who has steadily improved his 3-point shooting since being drafted in the 2017 NBA Draft. He isn’t slated to return to Christmas, but if the Spurs fall behind in the standings–certainly not impossible after losing their best player (DeMar DeRozan) in free agency–perhaps Collins could be of interest if he proves capable of continuing that progression.
Hernangomez and draft consideration could be all it takes to sway a San Antonio franchise that could finally embrace a full-scale rebuild after decades of dominance in a situation where Collins explodes out of the gate post-injury.