Boston Celtics: Jordan Clarkson floated as a TPE possibility

With the Boston Celtics falling just short–though in Games 5 and 6 against the Golden State Warriors it seemed like ‘far short’ was a more apt descriptor–of winning the NBA Finals, getting over the hump via a few more chess moves is the current plan for the offseason.

Nothing about Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens’ time in charge of the Boston front office has indicated he will sit idly by as the rest of the league figures out what it’s going to take to catch up to Steve Kerr, Steph Curry, and the Dynastic Dubs — an ode to the pre-pandemic days of old.

Via his nine years in the league dating back to his earliest days as HC of the Boston Celtics, Stevens has made many relationships in this league that should serve him well as the front office head honcho.

One that could serve him invaluably is the one he made with his former boss Danny Ainge. Ainge is now in the Utah Jazz front office as an executive, and given the familiarly disappointing results of the Jazz this past postseason, he could be set to engineer a rebuild (or at least a quasi-rebuild) this summer.

Rudy Gobert is one Utah trade target expected to finally find a new home after being drafted by the Jazz nine years ago. Gobert famously caught and spread COVID-19 brazenly during the pandemic’s earliest days, and has fallen short of the Western Conference finals three straight playoffs alongside non-friend Donovan Mitchell, who Utah would seemingly prefer to build around.

Another member of the Jazz that Ainge could advise the front office to deal is Jordan Clarkson, who BSS’ Dan Greenberg floated as a potential TPE target:

Other ways the Boston Celtics could acquire Jordan Clarkson besides Evan Fournier TPE

It’ll be an interesting offseason for Brad Stevens, who needs to figure out who were the irreplaceable members of this NBA Finals run.

If he doesn’t view super-sub Derrick White in that light, he could be used in a Clarkson trade considering their similar salaries. Given the couple million dollar difference, young guns Udoka Azubuike or Jared Butler could be a throw-in if that’s the basic deal framework.

Assuming the starting five is off-limits, Daniel Theis could be another starting piece for the Cs to build a deal with.