Boston Celtics: CP feels key 2022 deadline addition must be traded
Hardwood Houdini doesn’t see a trade that immediately makes sense for the Boston Celtics due to the results of essentially the entire 2022 calendar year on the court, but many outlets are floating their trade ideas out there in case anything drastically changes.
ClutchPoints’ Owen Crisafulli is in the boat of not foreseeing any transactions any time soon, but he did suggest a current option in their backcourt that could be moved in order to fix their frontcourt.
The suggestion in question was Derrick White. The key acquisition for Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens during his first trade deadline in charge of player movement was the subject of Crisafulli’s latest piece, titled ‘1 Celtics player who must be traded soon.’
The Boston Celtics missed the boat by not getting aggressive in offering Derrick White to Danny Ainge
Before the 2022-23 season tipped off in mid-October, the Utah Jazz were seen as a potential seller due to the low expectations they had following the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trades. The narrative has changed, though Utah’s current four-game losing streak could eventually flip it once more.
Due to their previous seller status, it was believed that Jazz CEO of basketball operations Dany Ainge and his previous Boston Celtics ties — as the general manager for 18 years and a player for his first seven and a half seasons — could help Brad Stevens and the Cs front office get an impact player for future draft consideration.
Before the season, it’s feasible that Lauri Markkanen was gettable, but that is more than likely no longer the case with the Finnish forward looking like a first-time All-Star so far in the 2022-23 season. There could have been room to do a Derrick White + picks package for Markkanen, but the ship has sailed on such a deal now.
That may not be the end of the world, though, as Boston could likely be one of the league’s best teams even without Derrick White in a key role due to the emergence of Malcolm Brogdon, Sam Hauser, and to a lesser extent, Payton Pritchard.