The Summer of 2022 has been filled with Boston Celtics trade rumors. The Cs were in contention for Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant before he pulled his trade request last month. Celtics fans tend to shy away from the idea of breaking up the team’s young core in any sort of trade scenario — no fan base gets attached to players quite like they do.
With training camp just weeks away, there isn’t a whole lot happening news wise. That means it’s hypothetical trade season. Now that Durant’s request has been pulled, teams around the league are making finish touches on their offseason moves. Last week we saw the Cleveland Cavaliers land Donovan Mitchell in a trade with the Utah Jazz.
Danny Ainge’s Jazz team definitely looks like they’re heading for a complete rebuild, meaning there could be a fire sale of rotation players.
A recent proposal by Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney sees the Boston Celtics getting in on the fun. Deveney proposed that Boston sends Payton Pritchard and the rights to Yam Madar to Utah in exchange for forward Jarred Vanderbilt.
Deveney wrote:
"“There is some question whether Vanderbilt should be among the players available in the Jazz fire sale—he is only 23 years old and Utah sees some value in keeping him going forward. But hey, this is a rebuild, so everything must go.Why not tempt Danny Ainge with two of his former Celtics draftees? Pritchard was a favorite of Ainge after he took him in 2020, but he has not meshed well with coach Ime Udoka. And with Malcolm Brogdon on board, the Celtics don’t have much need for point-guard depth.The Celtics could use Pritchard and fellow Ainge draftee Yam Madar to get Vanderbilt—a potential long-term replacement for Al Horford—on board.‘I think there is some concern about how (Pritchard) fits in,” the East exec said. “You’ve got three ballhandlers now who are ahead of him in the rotation, all of them are very good defenders and Pritchard just is not. He can get on the floor because of his shooting but he did not seem to have that trust factor with (Ime) Udoka. They were willing to include him in deals this summer, though obviously it was not their first choice.’ “"
Vanderbilt would be an interesting fit for the Boston Celtics. He’s long wing that would be able to give the Cs some extra defensive versatility off of the bench. With head coach Ime Udoka leading a defense first system, Vanderbilt could be a valuable piece to the Celtics.
Pritchard is someone that Brad Stevens could afford to send away in a trade. Boston brought in veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon in a trade this summer to give the team some extra guard depth. That move could see Pritchard’s minutes dwindle down this season.