Nightmare trade scenario would gift top Boston Celtics rival the east

The Boston Celtics may have no choice but to succumb to a Miami Heat team that will have traded for Kawhi Leonard in a proposed mock trade scenario pitched by Clipperholics’ Tyler Watts — one that would see another nightmarish Big Three formed in South Beach alongside Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo. The rest of the proposal would send Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Kyle Lowry, two first-round picks, and two pick swaps to the Los Angeles Clippers and return Marcus Morris and Bones Hyland along with the two-time Finals MVP. As Watts explains, the motivation behind the deal for the Clippers would be to get a return on Leonard during a contract year.

“Martin was impactful in their 2023 run to the NBA Finals, and Kyle Lowry gives the Clippers some added playmaking,” Watts prefaced before saying, “Two first-round draft picks and two swaps are light for a star like Leonard, but he too could inform the team of his desire to leave in the summer of 2024.”

Such a deal would practically gift Miami the Eastern Conference, though. A contract-year Kawhi along with a Butler dying to finally break through the glass ceiling? That’s too dangerous for any team in the conference, including the Boston Celtics.

Miami getting any big-name star to pair with Jimmy Butler is trouble for the Boston Celtics — but Kawhi Leonard would sting extra

Not long ago, a Joel Embiid landing spot scenario envisioning the reigning MVP to Miami — a trade scenario that came courtesy of Sir Charles in Charge’s Michael Saenz — was also nightmarish for Boston Celtics fans, but that wouldn’t touch Leonard joining the Heat. The Klaw is a proven entity with hardware already on his hands.

Embiid, Leonard, his teammate Paul George, or Damian Lillard would all shift the power balance in the east, but given the C’s reluctance to pull the trigger on a Leonard deal back in 2019 before he went on to win the Toronto Raptors a title, it’d sting extra if it was Leonard.