The 2021-22 campaign has been one that must never be forgotten for Boston Celtics fans.
After going 20-21 through the first half of the campaign, we witnessed a turnaround of the ages, as the C’s then embarked on a 31-10 record and ended the regular season ranked as the top defensive squad and finished second in the league in NET Rating.
However, the spectacle didn’t stop at game No. 82, as this ball club went on to surge through the 2022 playoffs, downing the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in round one, overcoming two consecutive seven-game bouts against the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat, respectively, in both rounds two and three, and, as of this moment, find themselves just two wins away from winning their first Finals since 2008.
Now, sadly, the Celtics find themselves down 3-2 in this year’s championship round and, to make matters worse, are facing this uphill battle whilst going against the dynastic Golden State Warriors, so, while they still have a rather realistic chance of rattling off two straight victories and hoisting banner No. 18 into the rafters back at TD Garden, accomplishing this feat will undoubtedly be their greatest challenge of each of their careers.
As far as we at HH are concerned, we’re still rather confident in this team’s chances of pulling out a series win, as they’ve proven themselves time and time again this year that, when faced with adversity, they have the ability to make the correct adjustments and execute them properly.
However, should they fail to overcome their current predicament and head into the offseason as runner-ups, some believe that the organization’s decision-makers could opt to shake things up a bit in the team’s talent department and, in turn, try to set themselves up for ultimate success in 2023 and beyond.
While for some teams this could likely be accomplished by means of capitalizing on the summer’s free agency period, due to the C’s salary restraints they’ll likely only be focusing on pursuing players willing to accept the league’s MLE or Veteran’s Minimum.
Because of this, should they really want to make some splashes this offseason, Brad Stevens and co. could find themselves looking to the trade market for significant talent upgrades and, should this happen, we at the Houdini believe that the Boston Celtics could look to trade for 2 talents, in specific, if they were to lose this year’s NBA Finals: