The 2021-22 NBA trade season is officially in full swing and one team that will likely be an active participant on the open market is the truly unremarkable Boston Celtics.
After enduring one of their most disappointing campaigns in recent memory a year ago, the shamrocks seem to just be continuing on with this underwhelming trend, as they hold a season record of 15-16 and an overall 2021 record (dating back to January 1st) of 63-66.
From poor coaching decisions made by their rookie head man, Ime Udoka, to the inconsistent play put forth by those within the rotation it’s evident that should the Cs wish to turn things around at some point this year they’ll need to take part in a few sizeable shakeups, and a popular means of accomplishing this is by looking to make some in-season trades.
Naturally, over the past several months we at HH have been discussing players across the league that we consider to be targets that could help the Boston Celtics improve their level of play between now and April, with names that have hypothetical trades ranging from small but impactful to all-out blockbusters.
However, in response to these ideas, many have begged the question as to who on the roster for the Celtics would prospective teams be interested in pursuing for, to put it lightly, no one outside of the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (two untouchables) have been all that impressive throughout this year’s campaign.
To us, we view several players outside of the Jays as having some value on the trade market and, in a recent Bleacher Report article writer Zach Buckley listed two specifically in Marcus Smart and Aaron Nesmith.
Linking the former to the Atlanta Hawks and the latter to the Denver Nuggets, Buckley believes both of these players could be viewed as intriguing assets to target for both of these ball clubs, and his reasoning for both is listed below:
Marcus Smart
"It’s possible Marcus Smart is out of their price range, but the Hawks had interest last season, per The Athletic and Stadium’s Shams Charania, and presumably understood the steep cost then. If Atlanta had something to interest the Boston Celtics, it could bolster the backcourt with Smart, a bulldog defender who doubles as a decent ball-mover and willing (if not always able) outside shooter."
Aaron Nesmith
"Should the Nuggets hit a rough patch between now and February and turn into sellers, they should sniff around for young players who could grow into rotation roles. Testing the Celtics’ patience with Aaron Nesmith might be a sneaky-smart way of adding even more firepower to the offense."
Now, while fans of the ball club almost certainly hope to see these aforementioned names — if ever shopped, that is — included in some bigger trades for players employed elsewhere (Myles Turner, Dejounte Murray, etc.), it’s somewhat hard to argue with Buckley’s logic for why they could be intriguing targets for each of these aforementioned teams.
What say you Boston Celtics fans?
Do you see Marcus Smart as being an interesting target for the Hawks? How about Aaron Nesmith for the Nuggets?
Perhaps you think there are other players on the C’s roster that should be garnering more attention on the trade market?
Whatever your thoughts are, go ahead and leave them in the comments section below!