Though things may not have gone according to plan for the Boston Celtics thus far into the season, there’s still plenty of time for them to turn things around and get to where they ultimately wish to be, i.e. in a playoff position come regular season’s end.
Of course, a popular route that fans and media alike believe the team should embark on to thrust themselves back up the Eastern Conference standings is along the lines of pursuing some in-season deals, ones that could help better bolster the team’s roster and, in turn, help compliment franchise cornerstones Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown along the way.
Over the past several months we’ve seen many ideas being concocted in regard to deals the Cs could theoretically look to make between now and February’s deadline, with said exchanges ranging from small but sound transactions to massive blockbusters, and we at Hardwood Houdini have obviously dipped our toes into the water ourselves from time to time in this department as well.
Recently, one of our sister sites, Hoops Habit, went about and discussed a specific multi-team deal they believe the Boston Celtics should consider that would help the team both in the now as well as for the next several years as well.
The basis of the trade: bring Buddy Hield to Eastern Massachusetts.
The exact package proposed by Site Editor, Jack Simone, reads as follows:
Citing the C’s need for more marksmen within the rotation, Simone is under the impression that this exchange would be a real positive for the team’s overall play for, after all, Hield (a 40 percent career 3-point shooter) and Derrick Rose (has shot 36 percent from deep since 2018) would certainly help the team in the scoring department, especially if one of them served in a high-usage reserve role to help improve their putrid bench that ranks 28th in points per game, 25th in field goal percentage, and dead last in offensive rating.
Now, with all this said, though we can certainly see the appeal of both of these guys coming aboard Boston’s rotation, the real question when it comes to this aforementioned trade proposal should be: is the return worth it for Brad Stevens and co. to cough up three future first-round picks?
To us, we believe this to be a resounding NO!
Don’t get us wrong, we would absolutely love to see Buddy Hield’s talents grace the hardwood for the Celtics at the TD Garden on a nightly basis — his playstyle running alongside the Jays would fit flawlessly, which is why we’ve mentioned on multiple occasions that the franchise should strongly consider pursuing him via trade this year.
That said, even with our desire to see him in green and white threads, giving up several first-round picks for a package headlined by the 28-year-old seems to be far too steep.
Yes, again, Rose is still a very solid player who, on the year, is boasting per-game averages of 12.3 points, four assists, three rebounds, and half a block on 45 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep, but not even his inclusion makes it any easier for us to accept seeing the Boston Celtics parting with three unprotected first-round picks.
At this point in time, the shamrocks need to do quite a bit of tweaking and, if they’re shipping out multiple firsts, it should be for no less than a blockbuster transaction, one that would bring them a legitimate All-Star talent such as Domantas Sabonis or, perhaps if we want to get a bit bolder, Damian Lillard.
While we generally love the ideas that the folks at H.H. push out, this proposed trade is truly a nonstarter for us.