Boston Celtics: 2 Juan Hernangomez trades to the San Antonio Spurs

Why the Boston Celtics do it

A simple swap here, the Cs could get a playable PF option from the Spurs by including a sweetener such as a 2022 second-round pick.

I threw out the idea of such a trade in a recent piece I penned about 3 players the Cs could acquire for ‘Juancho’, which included Miles Bridges before his recent back-to-back 30-point games and took that take to the ice age:

"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."

This would be a seemingly small move to many, but Collins could be enough of an upgrade to swing a few games down the stretch of this season.

Why the San Antonio Spurs do it

Gregg Popovich’s career is winding down, and these Spurs don’t look as though they will be making any serious runs in a loaded Western Conference.

This seems like a fringe NBA Play-in team at this point, and things could worsen. If they do, San Antonio may just have to asset hunt, and trading away Collins–possibly even before he suits up for the Spurs at all this year–could be a good beginning step.