3 Boston Celtics that were negatively impacted by the NBA trade deadline

Boston Celtics player No. 3) Al Horford

It’s no secret that the Boston Celtics would have ultimately enjoyed parting ways with Al Horford and his unbelievably inflated contract at this year’s deadline.

His return to Beantown has most certainly not gone as many had expected it to and, as a result, more often than not he’s been viewed as more of a salary eye-sore than a high-end difference-maker for this ball club.

Alas, post-February 10th we find him still aboard the SS shamrock, thus meaning his presence on the roster will stay for the remainder of the year.

That said, with the deadline moves made by Boston, though his spot on the team is indeed safe, his role within the rotation may not be.

As mentioned in our slide discussing Grant Williams, the Daniel Theis acquisition will likely have a rather sizeable impact on the team’s frontcourt for, frankly, they didn’t trade for the veteran big for no reason.

This impact could expand beyond Williams’ role within the rotation and easily make its way towards Horfords’ as well.

There have been several occasions where Ime Udoka has sat the former All-Star for extended periods of time–including late in close ball games–and opted to downgrade in size for an improvement in floor spacing.

With Theis, the idea is, should Horford start to underwhelm on the floor, the coaching staff could look to better the team’s flow while not sacrificing all that much in the size department (the big men are separated by a mere inch in height).

Now with another capable body in the fold, the leash for the veteran big has shortened quite considerably.