Trade No. 3) Boston Celtics land a third star, Indiana dives into a rebuild
At this year’s trade deadline, perhaps the biggest name that will be monitored is Indiana Pacers big man, Domantas Sabonis, who, according to early-season rumblings, has not been happy with the franchise and, in turn, would welcome a trade out of town.
Should this happen, it’s almost certain that the organization would then look to embark on a rebuild, be it slight or full throttle, thus meaning young talents and draft capital would be viewed as highly valuable return assets.
This trade brings the team both while also allowing them to shed draft capital for this upcoming offseason, as they’d be adding on Dennis Schroder (expiring contract), Josh Richardson (one year left on his deal), two players still on their rookie-scale contracts (one of which being hometown hero, Romeo Langford), and two first-round picks.
As for the Boston Celtics, it has been rumored all season that Brad Stevens is looking to add a third star to have run alongside the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and Sabonis could very well prove to be a great fit in this role.
Playing a position that is in serious need of an upgrade, the power forward is a 2x All-Star who, in year six, hasn’t seemed to miss a beat.
Though Indiana has struggled mightily this year, it has been Sabonis’ fault, for the big man has been producing at a tremendously high rate all season long, putting up stellar all-around averages of 19.1 points, 12.1 rebounds, five assists, and 1.1 steals per game on 58 percent shooting from the floor.
While he may not be that highly coveted floor spacer within the frontcourt (though he has been stroking it at a 41 percent clip from distance since December), he seems to make up for this with his tremendous facilitation skills, as he’s easily one of the best passing big men in the entire association, as he’s averaged 5.6 dimes per game over the past three years and dropped as many as 6.7 a night just last season while working with somewhat of an underwhelming supporting cast.
A guy with Sabonis distribution skills could help Boston’s offense flow significantly better, as the team’s ball movement would have the potential to be absolutely lethal which, in turn, could allow guys like Tatum and Brown to get cleaner looks at scoring opportunities off-ball rather than having them rely so heavily on isolation sets to get their points.
On top of this, thanks to his own tremendous scoring abilities, the Jays would almost certainly see less pressure from an opposing defense, as they’d now have the task of focusing on three stars rather than just two.
Alongside him we also see the trusty veteran, Justin Holiday, coming to town to serve as a quality 3-and-D role player within the rotation.
In the modern-day NBA, it takes ample star power to contend for titles and, with the fact that Sabonis is still shockingly just 25-years-old and is under contract for two more seasons, the Boston Celtics would find themselves rolling out quite a studly Big-3 for the next several years to come.
If the front office wants a third star to pair with Tatum and Brown, Domantas Sabonis could be their guy come the deadline.