The Boston Celtics have been generating a ton of buzz this offseason thanks to the several key moves made by Brad Stevens and co. that have seemingly managed to shore up all of the team’s main weaknesses within their rotation that plagued them during the 2021-22 campaign.
From the addition of Danilo Gallinari that bolstered their bench scoring unit to the trade that landed them a much-needed backcourt playmaker in Malcolm Brogdon, the C’s have absolutely dominated these early stages of the new league year, and what makes this all the more impressive is the fact that we still have about three months to go until tip-off to 2022-23.
While many may believe that there’s nothing more Boston should look to do when it comes to tinkering with this roster, with ample time remaining between now and game one of the regular season there’s no telling what this front office could look to do and, as recent reports suggest, they could actually be interested in making one more sizeable offseason splash.
Per The Athletic’s Shams Charania (subscription required), the Boston Celtics have re-entered the Kevin Durant sweepstakes, as they reportedly offered the Brooklyn Nets a package headlined by All-Star wing Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and a future pick.
Ultimately, Sean Marks and his staff felt this offer was a bit too low for their liking and, instead, countered with a proposal that would throw in Marcus Smart, several firsts, and possibly one extra role player into the mix.
So far, no word has been uttered about whether or not Stevens is actually considering such a transaction or if he has gone on to reject it but we, along with a bevy of C’s fan,s are hoping that his feelings on the matter lead him to the latter scenario.
Now listen, are we at HH suggesting that we don’t believe the franchise should look to make any more trades this offseason? Absolutely not!
That said, we are strongly against the concept of seeing them take part in one that would send any one of the Jays outbound, especially if it sees a player with a rather extensive injury history and who is nearly a decade older coming back in exchange.
Instead, should they pursue any deals moving forward, it should be by means of either one of their remaining TPEs or via shipping out semi-expendable assets (i.e. not Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown).
In fact, just before the whole KD hoopla saw itself resurfacing, rumblings pertaining to players the Celtics could actually consider parting ways with by means of trade started to make their way into the limelight, and perhaps the most interesting name mentioned during this time span was their mid-season acquisition, Derrick White.
There’s absolutely no questioning just how valuable the combo guard proved to be for Boston during their Finals run, especially from the second round onward when he stepped up big in the wake of Marcus Smart’s nagging leg injuries.
However, now with the addition of Malcolm Brogdon, it is the belief of many that White remaining in tow could wind up being rather redundant from a skill set perspective and, with this, some have even gone as far as to suggest that the C’s could look to place the 28-year-old on the trade block in hopes of possibly swapping him out for a talent who helps address other areas of concern.
Should the front office opt to actually shop White, considering his two-way skill set coupled with the fact that he plays the most important position in the sport, there’s no denying that the Boston Celtics would have quite a number of potential suitors, and there’s one trade package, in specific, that we believe Stevens should consider pursuing if they go down this road.
To us, this deal could make a ton of sense for quite a number of reasons.
For the Cleveland Cavaliers, they find themselves coming into the season with just one legitimate backcourt playmaker in All-Star Darius Garland.
Sure, they just re-signed Ricky Rubio this summer who, during his time with the club last season, absolutely shined in his role as a secondary playmaker but considering he’s still recovering from an ACL tear sustained last season, it is expected that he won’t be ready for the start of this year’s campaign and, once he returns, there’s no telling how long it will take for him to get back into the swing of things.
For his career, White finds himself dishing out 5.4 assists per 75 possessions whilst boasting a solid assist percentage of 20.6.
On top of his distribution skills, the guard is also a well-established defender who can defend any position from the one down to even the four (who else remembers him holding his own when going up against Giannis Antetokounmpo in man-to-man coverage?!), which is an attribute that would be welcomed with open arms within the lineup alongside Garland who is a well-known negative on that end of the floor.
As for the Boston Celtics, they land someone in Lauri Markkanen who not only could help improve the team’s rather shallow frontcourt depth but could also actually be the heir apparent to the power forward position once Al Horford’s contract comes to an end after the conclusion of this season.
A legitimate seven-footer with a sensational knack for effectively spacing the floor, the former seventh overall pick has proven himself capable of playing any position from small forward all the way to center which, considering Ime Udoka’s semi-positionless scheme (outside of, say, Time Lord), Markkanen could seemingly fit right in, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
Over the course of his five-year career, the big man has established himself as a true scoring threat from beyond the arc as well as inside the paint.
Since entering the league back in 2017, the Finland native has found himself putting up impressive averages of 15.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and half a block per game on 36 percent shooting from deep.
On a championship contender like the Boston Celtics, Markkanen could prove to be a truly great asset at either the four or five moving forward, while, at 25 years old, he could easily fit the timeline in which Tatum and Brown are on, thus giving them yet another potential building block to add to their young and talented core.
At the expense of White and a few second-round picks, this type of move would be tremendous for the C’s.