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.
Boston Celtics NYK target No. 2) Nerlens Noel
Nerlens Noel is another name that’s been rumored as being someone New York could be willing to part ways with at this year’s deadline. The 27-year-old signed a similar three-year deal to Burks in the offseason, worth just under $10 million per season.
Largely acting as a backup center to Mitchell Robinson in the Knicks’ rotation, Noel’s services could be utilized more effectively elsewhere, especially with Taj Gibson, another capable backup five, still on the roster.
For Boston, the backup center has been a rotational hole all season.
With Robert Williams and Al Horford both starting, the latter has acted as the backup center in most situations, with coach Udoka staggering their minutes. Alternatively, Grant Williams has been on the court as a small-ball five in certain situations.
However, with the possible trade of Horford, combined with the C’s need for another traditional center, as Enes Freedom’s minutes have been a disaster all year, Noel could be an option.
Averaging 3.5 points and 5.8 rebounds on the year, Noel’s skillset mainly revolves around the defensive end.
Boston doesn’t need overwhelming offensive firepower from the backup center position, considering one of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will likely be on the court at all times.
His contract may be a bit too much for the role he would be playing, but he can always be moved in the offseason for a cheaper alternative.
The additional of Noel would seal up a hole in the Celtics’ short rotation, giving Udoka one more player to count on night in and night out.
Boston Celtics NYK target No. 3) Cam Reddish
Now here’s an interesting one: the recently acquired Cam Reddish.
The Knicks made one of the first trades of the calendar year, trading for the Hawks’ young wing in exchange for a first-round pick and Kevin Knox.
Even though he’s regained his health, Reddish has only played in three games with the orange and blue, with coach Thibodeau refusing to insert him into his rotation.
This shows a clear disconnect between the coaching staff and the front office, with reports surfacing that the coach never wanted to land Reddish in the first place.
Knowing this, the wing is eligible to get traded once again, but only as a stand-alone. It would be an interesting low-risk play for the Celtics, as the upside of Reddish could give the C’s one of the best wing rotations in the league.
He’s certainly not a winning basketball player in this stage of his career — he had a -17.4 net rating on Atlanta this year — but the potential is certainly there.
The Duke product has shown flashes as a ball-handler and scorer and isolation sets, and has shined as an on-ball defender against opposing forwards.
That skillset projects to a 3-and-D wing who can also operate with the ball in his hands, a skill set that every team in the league would love to have.
Therefore, Reddish’s stock may be at an all-time low considering the disagreement on his place in the Knicks’ organization. They may try to cut bait and garner a first-round pick in return, essentially forgetting the trade ever happened.