‘Might make sense’ for the Boston Celtics to target trade for Spurs sharpshooter
Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley believes it “might make sense” for the Boston Celtics to target a trade for San Antonio sharpshooter Doug McDermott — noting that the price to acquire him might not be high due to the rebuilding nature of the Spurs franchise at the moment.
“…targeting Doug McDermott might make sense,” Buckley prefaced before saying, “He’s had a remarkably consistent nine-year career, and he shouldn’t be too expensive since he clearly doesn’t fit the timeline of the rebuilding San Antonio Spurs. He has shot better than 40 percent from range in five of the last six seasons.”
McDermott will be on the final year of a three-year, $41 million deal during the 2023-24 season that was part of a sign-and-trade between the Indiana Pacers and Spurs in August 2021.
Doug McDermott could fill Boston Celtics bench role that current options are failing to
Buckley made the case that McDermott would be a viable trade target for the Boston Celtics because the current options Joe Mazzulla — who has shifted the team’s focus offensively to the 3-point shot — has are failing to do so.
“Maybe the plan was for Danilo Gallinari to play (a 3-point specialist) role, but once his torn ACL took him out of the equation, they really only had Sam Hauser in that spot,” Buckley wrote. “He’s a good shooter, but he doesn’t have much of a track record, and he can be a little streaky (29.5 percent over December and January).”
Essentially, a healthy Danilo Gallinari and consistent Sam Hauser could’ve fixed those issues, but alas, Mazzulla did not receive that during the 2022-23 season. Perhaps if he had, there would’ve been fewer issues late in the season when the team’s stars slowed down due to injuries and a natural wearing down due to shouldering a larger offensive role.
That’s where McDermott would come in. It’s unclear how the Cs would match salaries in a potential trade for the 31-year-old, but he’d be a great get if the front office could figure that out.