Trade season began in earnest this past Wednesday with the NBA’s December 15th starting date for contracts signed this summer to be tradable. The Boston Celtics are very much a team that figures to be active given their current half-game lead on the Toronto Raptors for the #10 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Where will that lead them exactly? Well, for starters, the point guard position is a major question mark in the long term. It’s clear that Dennis Schroder is not long for the Cs given his solid play but lack of ability to actually elevate the team’s ceiling this season.
Marcus Smart is a player that may be better off with fewer ball-handling responsibilities since he tends to shoot first and ask questions later. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t man the point position considering his ascension to above five assists per game this year and last. But many Celtics fans are hoping that Smart is taking no shots come next season, but simply finding a ball-handler to shift his role is the more realistic scenario.
Chris Forsberg has floated point guard swap ideas that include Delon Wright and Trey Burke, but the backcourt may not be Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ primary focus before the February 10th deadline. Instead, the frontcourt could be his primary area of concern and improvement.
And improve the team would if they got their hands on a player like Jusuf Nurkic, who Chowder and Champions’ Tarringo Basile-vaughan believes would be an ideal target considering the uncertainty of Portland’s future and the dearth of capable two-way centers on the roster behind Robert Williams:
"While the trade buzz has mostly surrounded All-Stars Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, recent rumors has suggested the Blazers have made Robert Covington and big man Jusuf Nurkic available. Both players would be intriguing additions for the Boston Celtics, but Nurkic would provide that big man presence the team has been seeking.Just 27 years old, the 7-foot “Bosnian Beast” would give the Boston Celtics that physicality they have been missing since the days of Aron Baynes. The only downside is Nurkic won’t toss up many 3s, but a monster protecting the rim is what this team really needs."
Nurkic is on an expiring deal and makes just $12 million. It may not take much to land Nurkic, at least no core pieces from Boston’s end.
Landing the Blazers big man would undoubtedly raise the team’s ceiling, and it would likely be a low-risk, high-reward gamble Stevens and co. would take to bring him aboard.