Boston Celtics: 2 players C’s could trade for if they lose 2022 NBA Finals

Boston Celtics trade target No. 2) Deandre Ayton

Has Robert Williams been a true revelation for this year’s Boston Celtics team? Absolutely! Has he proven himself to be one of the best rim protectors in the game today? Most definitely!

Is his overall game somewhat capped due to his lacking post moves and jumper? A bit. Are his injury woes still a major concern moving forward? Without a doubt, yes!

Now listen, while we at HH absolutely adore Time Lord, and would love nothing more than to see him serving as the starting center that brings the C’s organization banner No. 18, should they fall short of accomplishing such a goal this postseason, moving forward there’s an argument to be made that the pivot has the most amount of question marks attached to it due to the two previously mentioned worrisome aspects to Williams’ game and, because of this, if Boston could put themselves in a position to potentially upgrade at the position, they should strongly consider doing so, right?

This summer, it is believed by the masses that the Phoenix Suns and Deandre Ayton will be parting ways with one another and, in all likelihood, will be trying to partake in some sort of sign-and-trade to execute their breakup.

This could, in theory, be a situation that the Celtics may want to get themselves involved in, for, though they may not be able to sign him outright on the open market, they could scrounge up enough pieces to pique the interest of Phoenixs’ front office via trade.

Selected No. 1 overall back in the 2018 draft, Ayton has already proven himself to be a star in the making down at the five and has showcased a wide enough range to be considered a legitimate cornerstone center, as he can score down in the paint with his stellar footwork and post moves, knock down smooth jumpers out to the mid-range (has even shown flashes of extending past the 3-point line), gobble up boards, and defend both down low and out towards the perimeter.

Throughout his four-year career, Ayton has shown that he’s right on the cusp of being considered an elite big with his level of play/ production and, this past season, we once again saw him post stellar averages, finishing the campaign off with 17.2 points, 10.2 rebounds, and just shy of a block on 63 percent shooting from the floor and 37 percent shooting from deep (albeit, on 19 total attempts).

Still just 23-years-old (will be 24 come the start of next season), Deandre Ayton fits the timeline that both Tatum and Brown find themselves on (will be just 24 and 26, respectively, once next season tips off), while his skill set and offensive prowess actually could go on to compliment the star wing duo to an even greater extent than Robert Williams’ does.

Far too often this postseason we’ve seen the Jays go stagnant in the scoring department (particularly late in games) and, due to how the roster is currently constructed, they’ve had no one else to consistently go out there and serve as a much-needed scoring presence to help hold down the fort in this department.

With Deandre Ayton in tow, this dilemma would be far less likely to become a reality, as the wings could focus their energy on excelling out in the mid-range and around the arc while the center could look to dominate closer to the rim, making an opposing defense’s job that much harder when it comes to trying to stop Boston from scoring.

Again, we love Robert Williams and would be over the moon if he can help the Celtics go on to rattle off two straight wins and bring home this year’s Larry O’Brien Trophy but, if they wind up losing the 2022 NBA Finals, Brad Stevens may want to use this summer as a time period to improve the team’s talent pool in an effort to better their odds of winning it all come next season, and swapping him out for someone like Ayton could be a way for them to do exactly that.