With the trade deadline approaching in just a few days, the Boston Celtics will have lots of decisions to make.
On a five-game winning streak, the C’s may have changed their deadline outlook, transitioning from a team that just wants to get under the tax to an actual playoff contender.
Keeping that in mind, their potential targets have increased substantially, with lots of room to improve on this roster. At 30-25, Boston is currently eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, but only five games back from the number one spot.
On the other hand, the New York Knicks are going in the opposite direction.
What was once a surprising playoff team just last season, Tom Thibodeau’s squad is quickly coming back to earth, supporting a 24-30 record while only winning two of their last ten contests.
With New York not even in a position to reach the play-in, it’s likely that they’ll try to sell off some of their veteran pieces. Always a free agent destination, they would love to free up some cap space if it meant landing a bigger fish in the offseason.
With that being said, let’s look at 3 individuals the Boston Celtics should look to pursue from their Atlantic Division rival
Boston Celtics NYK target No. 1) Alec Burks
In the first year of a new three-year deal, Alec Burks is reportedly already on the trade block. The 30-year-old has played some of his best basketball in New York, serving as a main contributor in the team’s playoff run last season, but is hindering the development of other young backcourt prospects on the roster.
With that being said, Burks’ skillset can help any team lacking bench scoring.
Averaging 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting 39.7 percent from beyond the arc, the veteran has proven himself as one of the game’s best shooters. When the Boston Celtics continue to have poor perimeter shooting nights, a presence like Burks could help set the offense straight.
With the upcoming inevitable trade of Dennis Schroder, Burks could act as a worthy replacement.
He’s a more than capable on-ball creator, as well as an impressive spot-up shooter. Therefore, he can play both on and off the ball, giving coach Ime Udoka lots of lineup flexibility.
Standing at 6-6, he’s not as small as your traditional frontcourt ball-handler, meaning he can hold his own on the defensive end. He won’t be able to switch onto every opposing player but is good enough to not completely break a defensive scheme.
Burks could both be a secondary-ball handler and a bench 3-and-D wing, two archetypes the Celtics are in desperate need of this trade deadline.
He would be an upgrade over Schroder considering he’s more than willing to run in an up-tempo offense, one of the main reasons for Boston’s success in the past two weeks.