Boston Celtics: A buy-low Jalen Smith trade Cs should pursue

Though we may only be seven games into the 2021-22 season, there’s no question that the Boston Celtics have underperformed and undoubtedly disappointed, especially considering the fact that many envisioned this year to be a bounce-back campaign after their abysmal 2020-21 turnout.

Now, while there’s still plenty of time for the franchise to get on track and, in turn, have themselves an overall successful season in the long run, it’s up to the C’s decision-makers to guide them in the right direction and, in our opinion, one of the biggest ways in which they can do this is by continuing to look for avenues where they can better bolster the team’s talent pool.

This past offseason, Brad Stevens and co. were certainly a busy bunch when it came to their hunt for rotational upgrades and did in fact manage to bring on some quality additions.

That said, it’s quite evident that they must still be on the lookout for available assets that could wind up positively impacting the team moving forward and we here at HH believe there’s a specific talent that they should consider pursuing on the low.

Recently, it was reported that the Phoenix Suns opted to decline the third-year option for their 2020 first-round pick, Jalen Smith which, in turn, has him slated to hit unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2022.

Obviously, the big man has yet to show General Manager James Jones that he’s worth holding onto for the full duration of his rookie-scale contract (valued at $19.3 million through four years upon initially signing) which, in the end, brought the franchise to this unusual decision.

With this move, it actually may be wise for Phoenix to now look into swapping the second-year talent out for other assets (be it players or draft capital) that they believe to be more beneficial for their cause, and we at the Houdini are under the impression that the Boston Celtics should be interested in making such a move.

Now, as we’ve already alluded to, we are not insinuating that the shamrocks should shell out a massive offer for the former lottery selection. Instead, we believe Stevens should look to buy-low on Smith, and have concocted a deal that could actually be interesting enough for the Suns to accept:

For those of you who have been following my writing for a while now, you may remember that I was a massive fan of Jalen Smith’s coming out of college and believed that, if he were available when the Boston Celtics were on the board, they should have scooped him right up.

With his game receiving comparisons to the likes of Chris Bosh and Myles Turner, we believed that the big man proved during his three-year collegiate stint he proved capable of serving as a highly-effective frontcourt player who can protect the rim on defense, space the floor on offense, and gobble up boards on both ends of the court.

Now, of course, as we now know Smith didn’t last till the Cs were on the board at 14 overall, as he was snatched up with the 10th selection on the night and, evidently, the Suns don’t appear to be all that enthralled with their decision.

While it’s hard to argue that the big hasn’t underwhelmed since being brought on to the team, boasting career averages of just 2.1 points and 1.5 rebounds on 44 percent shooting from the floor in six minutes per game, in our humble opinion a big reason for why this may be is due to the fact that Phoenix is playing him out of position, slotting him in predominantly at the four when we’ve always been under the assumption that he’d best be served as a five.

In fact, during the lone game in which Smith actually received ample run at the pivot (filled in for Deandre Ayton during the final game of last year’s regular season) he recorded a solid stat line of 11 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and two blocks on 45 percent shooting from the floor and finished off with a +5 box plus-minus rating.

Now yes, obviously this is such a small sample size and, with this, does not automatically validate our assumption about him fairing better at center in the NBA, but should the Boston Celtics be able to snag him for a rather inexpensive price such as the one we’re proposing, it could be an experiment well worth exploring.

Obviously, with the presence and, frankly, excellence of Robert Williams III at the starting center position for the Celtics so far this season, Smith would still be a backup option if ever acquired.

However, with Al Horford’s proven capability of performing at a high level at the four for this squad, the big could legitimately have a claim as the primary second center on the depth chart behind Williams which could allow for a more spread-out offensive scheme (he hasn’t shied away from thrusting up 3-pointers during his tenure in the league and converted on 37 percent of his attempts during his final season in college) as well as a still rather solid line of protection to defend the rim on defense.

As for the Phoenix Suns, they bring on a future second-round pick as well as a talent in Juan Hernangomez who, though has yet to play at a consistent rate during his first few games with the Boston Celtics (averaging just three points and two rebounds per game), could still be viewed as a more trusty bench option at power forward for the Suns and could wind up serving in a similar, albeit diluted role to that of Dario Saric while he remains out and continues to rehab after tearing his ACL last year.

A plus, of course, is that should things not work out with the veteran forward, they can cut ties with him after this season, as his contract is not guaranteed for 2022-23 and, thus, can still clear out an open roster spot that they already would have if they held onto Smith through the rest of the year.

Though to some this package for the likes of Jalen Smith could be considered absurdly low for, after all, he’s just two years removed from being taken within the top-10 selections of the NBA Draft, the fact that Phoenix has decided to not pay him a measly $4.67 million next season despite only being 21-years-old kind of suggests that he holds little value in the eyes of the organization.

Because of this, we believe he could be a buy-low trade option for a bevy of teams this season and the Boston Celtics should be interested in looking into his availability.