Boston Celtics: “Pass or Pursue” on 2 proposed trades to improve offense

Trade No. 1) The Boston Celtics land a much-needed tertiary scorer

As alluded to in the previous slide, we believe that some of Boston’s top potential trade assets actually can be used to help land some quality talents that could truly help this team flourish rather than simply seeing them be dealt for a new cast of role players.

Here, we see a deal that is far closer to the latter category as we see the proposed idea of sending both Dennis Schroder and Al Horford to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for the likes of big man Marvin Bagley III and fan-favorite trade target, Buddy Hield which, according to Crisafulli, would bring Boston much better fits to the rotation, both in the now as well as potentially down the road:

"Swapping Hield for Schroder essentially would be an interesting move, but one that is beneficial for both sides. Hield is a shooter, and while he isn’t much of a playmaker, his playstyle is a much better fit in the offense’s than Schroder’s currently is. The Kings would get some salary-cap relief by taking on Schroder’s diminutive salary, which would be very beneficial for them down the line. Bagley is a bit more complicated. He’s shown tons of potential throughout his career, but has never come close to reaching it with Sacramento. Combine that with numerous trade requests and drama, and it’s a miracle he is still playing for the Kings. The C’s could take a flier on Bagley here and hope a change of scenery could bring out the best in him. Bagley has proven to be a gifted interior scorer, and he could be the perfect candidate to play either alongside Robert Williams, or give him rest when he’s tired. On the other hand, Horford offers the Kings another nice contract for next season, and some consistency they didn’t necessarily have with Bagley."

For years now, the Boston Celtics have been looking for a quality third scoring option to have alongside Tatum and Brown while also searching for a second-unit spark-plug who can help boost their putrid bench squad that currently ranks 27th in points, 23rd in field goal percentage, and dead last in offensive rating.

A guy like Buddy Hield could easily solve both of these issues for the C’s.

Currently in his sixth season in the league, the guard once again finds himself in the midst of an impressive campaign whilst predominantly coming off the pine for the Sacramento Kings. In 41 games played, Hield is posting sound per-game averages of 15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and two assists on 38 percent shooting from deep.

Still on the right side of 30, the talented scorer could prove to be a tremendous and highly impactful third offensive threat for the next several years if acquired by Boston, especially considering the fact that he’s locked up under contract through 2024.

Even though both Schroder and Horford have been serviceable commodities within the rotation for the Celtics this season, we at the Houdini believe trading both of these guys in a deal for Hield could easily wind up being worth it.

With this in mind, considering Crisafulli’s proposal doesn’t see a single draft pick being offloaded (which seems highly unrealistic on its own, but we’re not here to discuss that today) all while also seeing the No. 2 overall selection from the 2018 draft coming aboard, this trade would be a no-brainer for Brad Stevens and co. to strike on.

Verdict: Pursue before they wake up from the dream