Emerging third star ‘the last’ guard Boston Celtics should consider trading, says analyst

Derrick White should be the last guard the Boston Celtics consider trading this offseason — this, at least, according to CelticsBlog’s Jack Simone, who sees the current guard rotation as “redundant” and in need of a shakeup in some form.

“As the Celtics explore potential trade options this summer, the guard rotation will be looked at through a magnifying glass,” Simone wrote. “Having White, Smart, and Brogdon together on the roster could be redundant, especially considering the team’s lack of wing depth. And with the season White just put forth, he should be the last to be considered in trade talks.”

Between the three, there is nearly $60 million in salary tied up for the 2023-24 season. As Jaylen Brown receiving a nearly $300 million supermax extension looms, the team’s cap could be more evenly distributed across the roster — particularly in a frontcourt that is relying on two bargain bigs who don’t have either age or injury history on their side — in order to be better prepared for a variety of opponents in the postseason.

The Boston Celtics may or may not trade away another member of the backcourt

There are a number of different directions the Boston Celtics front office could go this offseason when it comes to their backcourt. Besides potentially dealing away one of their big-minute guards the team could explore Payton Pritchard, who reiterated his trade demand from this past season.

While it seems logical that Pritchard would be dealt, Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney shared the intel from an unnamed NBA executive that the team may hold on to him due to his still being on a rookie-scale contract.

“The way things have worked recently is you find that teams do not want to trade guys on their rookie contracts because you’re going to get more value by trading him after he gets that big contract bump — so they’re not going to be in a hurry to move him just to move him because they can do better by waiting,” the executive told Deveney.

Pritchard is one of the team’s most valuable tradeable assets, so holding onto him and every other member of the backcourt could indicate a quiet summer.