Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley believes the Boston Celtics could improve an already league-best outfit with a trade for three specific trade targets — two of them being at the center position and the other satisfying the backup wing gig Danilo Gallinari is unable to due to his late-summer ACL tear.
Two of the three targets are actually from the C’s most recent opponent, the Phoenix Suns, who own the second-best record in the Western Conference as of this writing. Boston destroyed Phoenix by a 125-98 margin.
Buckley’s two Suns trade candidates included a recently proposed former lottery pick pivot from ClutchPoints (Bismack Biyombo) and a former Boston Celtics wing from the Isaiah Thomas era (Jae Crowder) in his list along with San Antonio Spurs center Jakob Poeltl.
Not making a move could be the best way to reward current members of the Boston Celtics
The NBA doesn’t have any overlord boogeyman teams that are measuring sticks for any franchise that thinks they’re championship material. In fact, the Boston Celtics may be the closest thing to that right now.
Because of that, making a move may send a message to the locker-room that they are not quite sturdy enough to enter the postseason trenches as is. Unless an injury opens up a roster spot or a can’t-miss free agent hits the market, the Houdini is pro-keep the team as is.
For years, HH has been searching for the best ways to upgrade the roster, but at this moment, there’s not an upgrade available. Actually, scratch that. Two major pieces could help the team, but a trade or release/signing isn’t even needed.
The returns of Robert Williams III and Danilo Gallinari could well turn the team into an even more imposing opponent for the rest of the Association. President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens has worked to hard to build a contender, but he very well might have achieved it.
Trading the injured Gallinari could be a bad PR move, and cutting Justin Jackson and Noah Vonleh could essentially render the preseason a non-starter for those looking to earn an NBA roster spot moving forward.
Keep things as is is the Houdini’s stance until further notice.