Boston Celtics: 3 Cs most likely to be sent packing this trade season

Though we’ve been broaching the subject periodically over the past several weeks, as of this writing it appears as though that special time of the year is finally upon us — it’s officially trade season for the Boston Celtics.

Through 28 games played, the shamrocks have proven to be one of the most perplexing and, frankly, underwhelming teams in the association, boasting a record of just 14-14 whilst having showcased just as many triumphant performances as they have lackluster ones.

While things do indeed seem bleak at the moment, there’s still quite a bit of time for the Cs to start nudging themselves back up towards to top of the Eastern Conference standings. That said, many believe that in order for them to start trending in this direction the front office will soon have to start making moves, particularly via trade.

Now, of course, in order to bring on a player/ players it’s almost certain that Brad Stevens and co. will need to offload some in order to make room on the roster and, should they ultimately partake in any sort of trade this season, we at HH believe there are 3 players currently on the roster that are the most likely to be offloaded:

Boston Celtics player No. 1) Josh Richardson

Josh Richardson has actually been an underrated contributor for the Boston Celtics so far this season.

Despite getting off to a sluggish start to the year, putting up just 6.7 points on 33 percent shooting from deep whilst boasting a -5 box plus-minus through his first seven games, the veteran has managed to kick things up a notch over their last 13 outings, averaging 11.2 points on 48 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent shooting from deep while holding a +3.8 BPM rating.

With the fact that he’s been serving as a trustworthy 3-and-D asset within the rotation, some may be curious as to why they find him being mentioned on a list of players most likely to be traded this year.

To be frank, no we are not under the impression that Richardson will bring back a massive haul for the Cs if they look to trade him. That said, due to his level of play coupled with his contract figures (signed through the end of 2022-23 on an average salary of $11.2 million), any number of teams looking to vie for playoff contention could be interested in someone of his ilk.

Outside of this, however, often when we find trade proposals being drawn up that involve the Cs, Richardson constantly sees himself being attached, if nothing more than more salary-matching purposes.

If Boston doesn’t wish to use one of their several Traded Player Exceptions on a specific talent on the block — though they absolutely should –, Richarson’s salary allows for the numbers to work, or at least bring them closer to working with quite a number of proposed targets (Terrence Ross, Dejounte Murray, Myles Turner, etc.).

No matter which way you see it, be it him as a sought-after commodity or a salary matching contract, the thought of Josh Richardson being dealt at some point prior to February’s deadline (becomes trade-eligible in early 2022) seem incredibly plausible.