After last week’s win at TD Garden, the Boston Celtics moved to 3-0 against the Toronto Raptors this season. Toronto, a franchise that’s been in basketball purgatory pretty much since the end of the 2020-21 season, is having their strongest campaign in years.
They currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference with a record of 24-17, slotting them just a game behind the third-place Celtics. Though the two teams are close in the standings, the Raptors still feel a tier below Boston and the conference’s other powers.
Their core is exciting, but there’s no overwhelming superstar talent.
According to NBA Insider Marc Stein, the Raptors are well aware of this. In his latest newsletter, Stein explained that Toronto has “maintained trade interest” in Dallas Mavericks big man Anthony Davis.
“Sources say Toronto is among the teams that have maintained trade interest in Anthony Davis, but any firm offer that the Raptors make is expected to be built around the contract of Immanuel Quickley or Jakob Poeltl alongside RJ Barrett in a Davis deal,” he wrote Wednesday.
Anthony Davis would make the Raptors a greater threat to the Celtics
Though Davis has appeared in just 29 games since being traded to Dallas for Luka Doncic last February, he’s still an asset when healthy. When being the operative word here. The big man is expected to miss at least six weeks as he recovers from an injured ligament in his left hand.
A timetable of six weeks likely lines Davis up for a return after the All-Star break next month. His remergence would help any team, including Toronto, make a late-season playoff push, and of course render them more dangerous when the postseason actually rolls around.
Boston has just one meeting with the Raptors left this year on April 5. Of course, the two could wind up meeting in the playoffs, too.
Adding Davis to the mix would make them a much more dangerous foe, especially considering the Celtics’ lack of frontcourt depth. That’s not to say that Neemias Queta and Luka Garza haven’t held their own this season, but they don’t offer a ton of resistance against a player of Davis’ caliber when he is healthy.
The one caveat to any hypothetical trade is the inclusion of RJ Barrett. There’s been a direct correlation between Barrett’s presence on the court and Toronto’s tally in the win column this season. They’re 16-7 when the former Duke standout plays and 8-10 when he does not. That’s quite the difference.
Then again, who’s to say that Davis doesn’t elevate the team in the same way?
From a Celtics perspective, it’s best that “The Brow” doesn’t join any Eastern Conference contender.