The start of NBA Training Camps is not here yet but with the dog days of the offseason dragging on, it’s almost impossible not to begin to ponder and dream about the upcoming 2023-24 season. For a team like the Boston Celtics, that means competing for a championship. And while it may seem as if the Celtics already have a roster that is championship-ready, you can never predict what could happen between now and the playoffs to possibly change that.
But that’s where the NBA Trade Deadline can come into play for the Celtics, a last-ditch effort to make an addition or two before the start of the postseason. Even though we’re still in summer, it’s never too early to think about how the Celtics could approach the trade deadline. We explore a few way-too-early trade deadline candidates that the Celtics should keep an eye on.
Way-too-early 2024 NBA Trade Deadline candidates Celtics should keep tabs on
Royce O’Neale, Brooklyn Nets
Even if the Brooklyn Nets have a solid season in which they’re in the running for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, there is a plausible scenario in which Royce O’Neale emerges as a possible trade candidate at the deadline.
After re-signing Cameron Johnson and the additions of Lonnie Walker in free agency, along with the likelihood that the Nets will also look for more minutes to give to Cam Thomas, there’s a very real chance that O’Neale could find himself on the outside looking in as an expiring contract after the season.
If Brooklyn doesn’t have plans to extend him, and they may not with how their roster is constructed at the moment, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if he was moved at the deadline. If so, he could be another wing that the Celtics could add for the stretch run. It’d make even more sense as a rental move for the team.