The good news is, the Boston Celtics already find themselves with two top-flight talents in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to build a quality team around in an effort to contend for a championship at some point down the road.
The bad news is, they’re still trying to assemble said quality team around them.
As things currently stand, the shamrocks find themselves boasting a rather underwhelming sub-.500 record of 19-21, placing them down in the 10th seed within the Eastern Conference standings.
To be frank, there is a myriad of reasons why Boston has produced at such a lowly rate throughout the season thus far, with answers ranging from rookie mistakes made by head coach Ime Udoka to inconsistent production from their cornerstones.
That said, despite all this the C’s still have a chance to turn their year around, though, admittedly, they must act quickly and a way in which they can do this is by exploring their options on the trade market.
Over the past several months, fans and media outlets alike have all been thinking up deals that could potentially help improve the team in one way or another for a second-half push and, just recently, our sister site, Chowder and Champions, came up with 2 trade packages that they believe could better the team’s overall offensive punch.
With this piece, it inspired us at the Houdini to push out yet another installment of our favorite series we call “Pass or Pursue”, where we discuss whether or not the Boston Celtics should sit out on specific trade talks or if they should actively look to partake in them.
So, without further adieu, let’s get started:
Trade No. 1) A 3-for-3 swap between the Boston Celtics and LA Clippers
It’s no secret that a rather sizeable weakness found within the rotation for the Boston Celtics is in their backcourt.
Though Marcus Smart and Dennis Schroder are unbelievably talented in their own right, some question whether they are the right guys to be leading the charge at the guard positions for this ball club.
As has been seen thus far into the year, be it with one starting and the other coming off the pine or with each serving in the first five, both veterans have appeared to be questionable fits at times within this scheme (especially when on the floor together) and, as a result, they run the risk of being offloaded for other assets that arguably could be more desirable moving forward.
With this in mind, C&C writer, Owen Crisafulli, composed a deal that would send both of them out of Boston in exchange for the likes of Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, and former Celtic, Marcus Morris which, in his mind, would be a big plus in the offensive potential department:
"Schroder and Reggie Jackson are very similar players, as both are gifted scorers that aren’t exactly fantastic three point shooters. Jackson’s efficiency is way down from last season due to him having to pick up most of the slack in the wake of George and Leonard being injured. If Jackson ended up in Boston, he would most likely benefit from having less responsibility playing behind Tatum and Brown. Adding Luke Kennard would give the Boston Celtics a weapon they don’t have. Kennard is a three-point specialist who has his limitations elsewhere on the court, but would give the offense something it doesn’t have right now. Smart’s defense would be missed, but he would probably be forgotten very quickly if Kennard comes in and shoots like he has his whole career. And then Marcus Morris Sr. would make a return to Boston, giving the team another shooter they desperately need. It’s been great having Al Horford back in the fold, but he’s clearly not the player he once was, and you can make a pretty convincing case that Grant Williams deserves to take over his starting role. Moving Horford would allow for this to happen, and give Boston’s bench another floor-spacing shooter who could help open up the floor for Tatum and Brown."
Yes, all three of these players mentioned are solid contributors who, in fairness to Crisafulli, would likely be able to help boost the offensive production for the Boston Celtics if acquired. That said, are their skills really worth giving up all of this all-around versatility and, perhaps more importantly, Marcus Smart for?
These positive attributes mentioned in the piece are all valid points, but, still, we must look at the proposed trade for what it actually is — Boston would be giving up three key starters (Schroder has been in the starting unit more often than not this season) for three mere role players, two of which (Jackson and Kennard) are on far-less favorable contracts than both Smart and Schroder who, at worst, put forth the same contributions and, realistically, provide more to their respective team, especially when it comes to Smart.
Now, trading for each one of these listed players in an individual deal is one thing and, in fact, could actually prove to be quite beneficial as has been stated in a recent piece of ours.
However, acquiring all three of them seems like a nonsensical move to make, especially if it comes at this type of cost for, frankly, they almost certainly would be better utilized in a deal elsewhere.
Verdict: Pass
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.