3 role-fillers who could be traded to the Boston Celtics

With the NBA’s unofficial start to trade season looming, the Boston Celtics have the best record in the NBA and have been looking like a well-oiled machine (except Saturday, but we won’t discuss that here). The Celtics are an impressive 21-6 through just over a quarter of the 2022-23 NBA Season. Once December 15 rolls around all players signed before September 15 will be eligible to be included in trades. As that date approaches, Boston, as well as other teams around the Association, can begin to gauge where they stand amongst the rest of the field.

For the Cs this doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They know that they’re contenders and won’t be letting players go for nothing. However, other teams that are somewhere in the middle of the pack will be deciding whether or not they want to go all-in to compete, or all-out to tank for a higher draft pick in this year’s draft. This season, could certainly see more teams be sellers towards the trade deadline on Feb. 9 than in an ordinary year. Top-prospect Victor Wenbanyama stands 7’2″ and plays like a point guard. Fans all over the league are begging their beloved teams to drop games in order to have a better chance at landing the French teen.

How does this impact the Boston Celtics?

As more time passes, more and more teams will likely decide that they aren’t competitors. This situation will increase the likelihood of the Boston Celtics being able to trade for a player that is worth trading for. Middling teams will be willing to part with impactful players in exchange for either draft picks or young players. For Boston, Payton Pritchard is a player that comes to mind just because of the lack of opportunity he has gotten so far.

The Celtics also have a $6.9 million trade exception sitting around that they could use to bring in a player without having to match salary. Let’s start there.

Former Boston Celtics draft pick returns?

Earlier in this piece I mentioned that there will be teams that decide to unload in order to tank for a higher pick. Well, the Philadelphia 76ers are not one of those teams. Despite their mediocre 14-12 record through 26 games, Philly will definitely be a team looking to compete when the spring rolls around. However, Matisse Thybulle may be a player that isn’t around for this season’s Sixers playoff run.

Thybulle is having a down season across the board. Literally every single one of his traditional statistics is a career-low. In fairness to the former Washington Husky, he’s playing the least minutes of his career by far, so it’s not exactly easy to improve on career averages. In just 11 minutes per game, Thybulle is averaging under two points per game on 35/23 shooting splits in 22 appearances this season. Those shooting numbers are enough to keep a guy glued to the bench for sure. Maybe they’re enough to see the Sixers move on from the 25-year-old.

If the Boston Celtics were interested, Thybulle is one of those players that fits into their $6.9 million trade exception. He would be a guy that could help to boost the defensive depth in Boston. Thybulle has landed on the NBA-All-Defensive second team in each of the last two seasons. The move could benefit all three parties involved, Philly, Thybulle, and Boston. The Sixers would no longer have to worry about deciding whether or not to sign the 25-year-old past this season, Thybulle potentially could see more of an opportunity to flourish as part of a team performing at a high level as he works to earn his next contract, and the Celtics could use the extra defensive help as they continue to improve in that aspect.

Because of all of the above mentioned benefits of this deal, it could be a cheap one for Boston. Perhaps only costing the low price of a few second round draft picks.