Boston Celtics: This Dennis Schroder Jazz trade returns new sixth man PG

There are a few reasons why the Boston Celtics and the Utah Jazz appear likely to be trade partners ahead of the 2022 NBA trade deadline on February 10th.

The first and most obvious reason is the presence of Danny Ainge, a former Boston Celtics general manager, coach, and Hall of Fame player, is now in the Jazz front office, serving in the role of CEO of Basketball Operations. His former head coach Brad Stevens, who was in charge of the roster he was building from 2013-2021, is the President of Basketball Operations for the Cs.

Those two coming together for a deal appears well within the realm of possibility…particularly on the heels of a rumor that the Jazz has an interest in one of Boston’s wings in the wake of Joe Ingles’ season-ending ACL injury.

Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer revealed on the latest edition of the Bill Simmons podcast that Utah has Josh Richardson on their radar.

Richardson is a popular target, as is Dennis Schroder, who the Houdini has wrapped up into several mock trades in recent weeks ahead of the deadline. Today, we wrap them into one deal to help solve the Jazz’s woes while adding an impact player to the Cs roster in the process:

Why the Boston Celtics do it

Jordan Clarkson has several years left of team control, and has the sort of scoring punch that could keep defenders scrambling to cover him and the ‘Jays’. He is having a down-year in Utah this season, but things could certainly change as they tend to with a change of scenery.

Bailing on two young wings hurts, but less so with a future second-round pick on its way back in this arrangement. Absorbing Joe Ingles’ deal gives the team the chance to re-sign him with bird rights.

Why the Utah Jazz do it

Dennis Schroder is exactly the kind of bench scorer Utah needs with the loss of Ingles, and the tradeoff of Clarkson and a second-round pick for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, and Aaron Nesmith certainly adds two-way production to a Jazz defense that has seriously struggled in recent months.