CP sees Marcus Smart and Al Horford as Damian Lillard trade chips

With the Boston Celtics losing their way back to a .500 record and facing an uphill climb over the next week playing several of the league’s top teams, trade talks are set to dominate the news cycle for the time being.

It’s a fun way for fans to imagine a world where their team has a chance of changing bad habits and experiencing exciting new player combinations, but also a way to cope with what they currently see on their television screens.

One of the most popular trade scenarios right now includes Damian Lillard, whose Portland Trail Blazers are currently mired in a losing streak that has them sitting outside even the NBA Play-in tournament at this point.

Lillard has been absent during the team’s last four losses, one of which included a 28-point loss to the Celtics. During that time, he has had to put out media fires surrounding the rumored tension between head coach Chauncey Billups and the rest of the roster.

It’s not hard to see why Lillard is being strongly rumored to move, perhaps now more so than ever.

Assuming the Boston Celtics have interest in upgrading their point guard position with one of the game’s greatest one-man offensive systems, what would it take?

ClutchPoints sees Marcus Smart and Al Horford as Damian Lillard trade pieces

Diego Vergel de Dios believes that the Cs wouldn’t dangle either of the ‘Jays’ to get a deal done, instead opting for the team’s next most expensive players:

"Boston would need to wait for Marcus Smart to be trade-eligible, but Al Horford and Smart would be the centerpiece of the deal for the salaries to match, while mortgaging majority of their future to acquire one of the best players in the association."

We like where Vergel de Dios’ head is and agree that Jaylen Brown shouldn’t be mentioned in any trade talks.

Ultimately, though, that might be a deal-breaker unless the Cs could rope in a third team that could offer a young player with a higher ceiling than what is currently on Boston’s roster.