NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg ultimately sees the Boston Celtics making smaller moves around the fringes as opposed to truly rocking the boat.
Of course, the expiring sub-six million dollar salary of Dennis Schroder is one of the contracts being sent away in Forsberg’s scenario. Hardwood Houdini has been hot on the trade trail to find Schroder a new home in several mock trades.
Elsewhere, a home state return for a recent Cs lottery pick that hasn’t panned out brings back a draft pick.
Here were the deals Forsberg included in his latest Celtics Mailbag:
"Romeo Langford and Bruno Fernando to Indiana for Justin Holiday, second-round pickDennis Schroder to Phoenix for Jalen Smith"
Why the Boston Celtics would acquire Justin Holiday in that deal
Bruno Fernando is just an end of the bench roster spot at this point. He is buried beneath even Enes Kanter on the depth chart, but is extraneous with Robert Williams, Al Horford, and Grant Williams all needing minutes in the frontcourt.
Losing Romeo Langford in a Justin Holiday trade is giving up on the former Indiana Hoosier’s potential. Acquiring a second-round pick substantially lessens the sting, and makes us reconsider if the word sting is even apropos here.
Holiday can contribute more than Langford in the short-term, and maybe even ends up being the better long-term play too if it simply never happens for the 2019 #14 pick. Perhaps being home is what the doctor ordered for Langford. Brad Stevens should attempt to find that out in this arrangement.
Why the Boston Celtics would pass on acquiring Jalen Smith in that deal
Jalen Smith doesn’t make that much sense in a straight swap with Dennis Schroder at this point. While, yes, there’s an argument for clearing the German floor general from the path of Payton Pritchard, but there’s more to receive in a potential Schroder trade than a center who could possibly cost the Cs an arm and a leg in restricted free agency anyway.
They might as well continue running with Schroder as opposed to rolling the dice on a big who could either have a muted impact or price himself out of Boston.