Boston Celtics: “Pass or Pursue” on 2 proposed Damian Lillard trades

Boston Celtics trade No. 2) 3-team deal with Portland and Charlotte

When a megastar is traded in the NBA, oftentimes we see a bevy of moving pieces in order to make such a deal work. In this instance, Piercey proposes the concept of a 3-team deal involving the Portland Trail Blazers and Charlotte Hornets to bring Damian Lillard to the Boston Celtics.

In this hypothetical scenario, we see the C’s parting ways with essentially the same package, except this time Derrick White is swapped out in favor of Aaron Nesmith (a smarter move for both parties) while Al Horford is sent to Charlotte instead of Portland.

The loss of Horford would still be an upsetting sight to see, as he’s truly been one of the driving forces for Boston’s midseason turnaround, but, for the Hornets, it’s absolutely a quality move worth making, as he’d bring much-needed veteran experience/ leadership to their incredibly young and talented roster looking to finally break into the playoff picture while also providing them with the defensive tenacity and floor-spacing abilities they’ve been longing for at the five.

On top of this, Charlotte also gets off of the albatross contract that is Gordon Hayward, as he is sent to the Trail Blazers where he’ll either be bought out or kept on to try and help build up his stock to be dealt elsewhere at a later date.

When it comes to the Celtics, simply put, it’s just more of the same from the previous slide.

As stated earlier, Lillard has proven to be one of the best point guards in the league since being drafted back in 2012 and, even prior to going down with an abdominal injury this season, he was finding himself up to his typical high-end antics.

Through 29 games, the 31-year-old put up impressive averages of 24 points, 7.3 assists, and 4.1 rebounds and, during the final month he played on the year (December) the perennial All-Star went on an absolute rampage, posting nearly 30 a night (29.6) to go along with 6.2 assists and 4.6 boards on 36 percent shooting from deep.

After fully recovering from his in-season surgery, heading into next year’s campaign many are once again expecting big things from the NBA’s 75th Anniversary selected, and the thought of him fully healthy whilst running alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown should certainly be enough to warrant consideration for this proposed deal from Boston’s side of things.

Verdict: Pursue