Boston Celtics: “Pass or Pursue” on 2 offseason Harrison Barnes trades
By Mark Nilon
Boston Celtics trade No. 1) C’s get a new power forward, Kings get…stuff
For years now the Boston Celtics have been attached to two specific storylines: their desperate need to find a long-term answer at the four and Massachusetts being an ideal landing spot in a potential Harrison Barnes trade.
This proposed deal by writer James Piercey manages to find a resolution for both of these aforementioned talking points, all while seeing the team give up a rather small amount (in the grand scheme of things) to make it happen.
Coming off of arguably his best season as a pro, Barnes wound up registering stellar averages of 16.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game on 47 percent shooting from the floor and 39 percent shooting from deep.
A player we’ve been high on for quite some time now, one could argue that the 29-year-old may ultimately prove to be the perfect tertiary option to have running alongside the likes of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the starting lineup if acquired, for he’s a highly efficient off-ball scorer (converted on 42 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and boasted a 63.1 percent effective field goal percentage in catch-and-shoot scenarios overall) who is a more than willing passer and has extensive postseason experience and a championship to his name (won 2015 title as a starter with the Golden State Warriors).
In turn, we see the Boston Celtics parting ways with Daniel Theis and Derrick White, a player some believe to be holding the team back anyway but, as Piercey put it, could be a nice depth boost in the backcourt for this Sacramento team.
Frankly, we can’t fathom why the Kings would opt to do a trade such as this when they most likely can get much more from another interested ball club but, should this ever be presented as a possibility for the C’s, by all means, they should pounce on it.