Boston Celtics: 3 tough veteran targets to acquire via trade

The Boston Celtics have been out-toughed early on this season, so thinks NBC Boston’s Justin Leger.

Leger referred to first-year head coach Ime Udoka’s recent comments about the Cs needing a proverbial punch in the mouth before really getting going during the early portion of the season:

"“I told them they were gonna get their asses kicked tonight if you come with that focus in the game and for three quarters, we played the same way,” Udoka said. “We waited to get down 15 and started to play with the effort we had in the other four games.”"

Jeff Goodman’s indictment of the ‘Jays’ and their ability to lead was also cited in Leger’s piece:

"“Well we’ve seen it with Jayson and Jaylen, they’re not leaders yet. They needed to bring in, and I think this is an area that Brad should’ve realized and added, you need to bring in somebody in the locker room or even on the court that can give them that spark and give them that toughness and that edge.”"

Before he came away with this conclusion:

"Boston does have a player that fits that description in Marcus Smart. Still, there’s no doubt adding another outspoken veteran to the mix would benefit a team largely made up of young talent."

So with this all in mind, Hardwood Houdini is scouring the league to find three players that fit this description attainable by the Boston Celtics front office:

Boston Celtics tough veteran target #1: Montrezl Harrel

Boston just got a great look at Montrezl Harrel, who has been bouncing around the association in recent seasons.

Now on his third team in as many seasons, Harrel just helped the Washington Wizards sweep the Cs with multiple 20-point efforts.

He’d be acquirable if the Wizards end up out of the postseason hunt, but multiple factors may prevent that from happening. Those would be both the  intriguing youth (Rui Hachimara and Deni Avdija) and solid support pieces (Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) surrounding superstar Bradley Beal and Harrel, whose averaging 19 points and 10 rebounds through six games.