NBA trade season is approaching its boiling point and, though the Boston Celtics have yet to make their big splash, many other ball clubs around them already have.
Perhaps the biggest move of this year’s campaign came earlier this week when the Sacramento Kings and Indiana Pacers took part in a rather spicy transaction that saw All-Star big man, and top-billed target for the C’s Domantas Sabonis heading out west in exchange for a package headlined by rising-star point guard, Tyrese Haliburton and sharp-shooting bench scorer Buddy Hield (yet another target that was recently on Boston’s radar).
This, of course, came just a few hours after another sizeable move took place between the Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans that sent stud guard, CJ McCollum down to the Big Easy.
Now, while these deals are certainly hot and heavy in their own right, come Thursday’s deadline they likely will not be the biggest moves that were to have taken place in 2021-22 which, for the shamrocks, could ultimately spell trouble.
Though the Celtics have often found themselves linked to quite a number of talented players that are rumored to be available, so too have a number of other teams, some of which being direct rivals to the franchise.
In fact, be it they make a trade or not, should a few of their formidable foes across the association execute some recently discussed deals, it could make the rest of the year, and perhaps even beyond, much more challenging than it needs to be.
With this in mind, here are 3 rival trade rumors that could wind up having a truly brutal impact on the C’s:
Rumor that could be brutal for Boston Celtics No. 1) Danilo Gallinari to Toronto
As mentioned already, the Boston Celtics have been on an absolute tear as of late, winning eight of their last nine outings and are 14-6 since the kick-off to the new year.
As a result of their hot streak, overall the C’s boast a record of 31-25, stationing them in the seventh seed out in the Eastern Conference standings and, with this, are just a mere four wins behind the top-seeded Miami Heat.
Alongside the shamrocks, however, are their divisional rival, the Toronto Raptors, who are just one slot ahead of them in the sixth seed and, according to recent rumblings, they may be looking to make some roster adjusting moves by this year’s deadline to bolster one of the weakest areas within their rotation and, in turn, better their chances of climbing up the standings.
Per Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, it is being reported that the Raptors are engaging with the Atlanta Hawks to bring veteran forward Danilo Gallinari to presumably serve as a high-usage reserve player.
Though Gallo is by no means a “star”, he could actually prove to be a tremendous addition to Toronto’s second unit who has been anything but spectacular when on offense.
In fact, they’ve been flat-out putrid.
As things currently stand, Canada’s favorite ball club finds it’s bench unit ranking dead last in points per game, 3-point percentage, and overall offensive rating.
On top of this, their crop of reserves have been so lackluster this season that head coach Nick Nurse has been forced to play his starters at obscene raters, as they ranks first in the league in minutes per game.
A Gallinari addition could ultimately help on both of these fronts.
A 14-year NBA veteran who has seen his fair share of time serving in key roles for his respective ball clubs, the power forward holds solid career averages of 15.6 points and 4.8 rebounds per game on 38 percent shooting from deep.
Just two seasons removed from averaging nearly 20 points a night on 41 percent shooting from deep, the Italian-born baller has proven himself to be a rather lethal scoring threat in this league and, when given an increase in opportunities this year with Atlanta, he has still shown capable of efficiently providing his team with quality points (when seeing between 20-29 minutes this year he is averaging 11 points and 4.4 boards on 39 percent shooting from deep).
Adding the trusty Gallinari would not only help the Raptors when it comes to their lowly second-team scoring production but also when it comes to giving some of their main frontcourt contributors like Pascal Siakam and Scottie Barnes a much-needed rest.
If they’ve been managing to win without this type of luxury in tow, imagine how effective they’ll be moving forward should they wind up nabbing one like Danilo.