5 Boston Celtics players who could potentially be traded next week
By Sam LaFrance
As the NBA approaches trade season, the Boston Celtics are steamrolling just about everyone in their path. Wednesday night they went into the Phoenix and ran the Suns out of their own building. Boston took home a 125-98 victory and had as large as a 45-point lead over Phoenix, who were returning Chris Paul to their lineup. The Cs are 3-0 on their current road trip with games against the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, and Los Angeles Lakers still to play.
By the time that the Celtics return to the friendly confines of T.D. Garden, they’ll be able to trade five of their players. Just to clarify, this doesn’t mean that any deals are imminent or that Boston has been shopping any of their guys, just that they’ll be capable of trading them.
The NBA has many restrictions on when and who teams can trade. Next week on Dec. 15, the first of those restrictions is lifted. Players that signed a new contract before Sept. 15 will be eligible to be included in trades next Thursday.
So, how does this affect the Boston Celtics?
The Boston Celtics have five players that will become trade eligible on that day. Danilo Gallinari, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, Justin Jackson, and Noah Vonleh all are going to be cleared for any trade shenanigans that happen between Thursday and the trade deadline on Feb. 9, 2023.
As far as the likelihood of any of the five being traded goes, it really isn’t likely. Both Kornet and Hauser have played key roles for Boston as they’ve climbed to the top of the NBA. Kornet has proven to be a serviceable replacement for Daniel Theis as the team’s second/third string center. He’s averaged five points and just over three rebounds in about 13 minutes per game, all while shooting a career-high 71% from the field. Hauser has stepped up as well. When Gallinari went down with his knee injury, there was a ton of talk regarding how the Cs would fill the void. The 25-year-old has been a consistent source of spacing off the bench. Hauser’s efficient 49/45 shooting splits have earned him a concrete bench role this season.
Moving on to Vonleh and Jackson, they could potentially be thrown into a deal as a way to add salary, but besides that it’s tough to see any team having interest in either. Both have spent most of their time at the end of the Celtics’ bench. Jackson seems to be a development project for Boston and Vonleh is a break-in-case-of-emergency fourth string big.
Lastly, it’s pretty hard to imagine the Cs ditching Gallinari this season. It’d be a bad look for a franchise that has been criticized in the past for it’s treatment and handling of injured players. Dealing the Italian wing the season after he tore his ACL would be a sure way to reignite those criticisms.
At the end of the day, the Boston Celtics aren’t really looking like a team that needs to make a move and there’s a pretty good chance none of this will mean anything. However, the Cs have a $6.9 million trade exception laying around that would enable them to trade for a player without sending any salary back. Maybe I’ll write about potential targets soon, we’ll see.