For the past few weeks, little tidbits about the Boston Celtics’ potential plans for the trade deadline have leaked out, here and there. Of course, all of that is hearsay. When it comes to the Celtics, you can never really be certain of anything unless it’s a done deal.
Even when the info comes straight from the horse’s mouth, you have to take it with a grain of salt. Take Brad Stevens’ Wednesday availability for example. Brad said a whole lot of nothing during his press scrum, but did leave the door open for potential upgrades before the trade deadline.
“We will not put a ceiling on this group,” he explained. “If it makes sense for us to look for things that can help us, we certainly will. But it all has to be within good deals.”
Those good deals, of course, have to apply to all parties involved. Boston scratches one of the other 29 franchises’ back, and that franchise scratches theirs. That’s how it all works.
It's too early to tell what the Celtics options for the trade deadline will be
In order for other teams to know exactly what will benefit them most in a trade, there’s going to have to be more evidence than there is now. As Stevens aptly pointed out, Eastern Conference teams, in particular, can’t have learned too much about themselves to this point.
“I think everybody, or a lot of teams, are really still very much in progress,” Stevens told reporters. “Let's see how everything looks as time moves on. I think, you know, everybody's a work in progress. There's — what's the difference between third and ninth in the East right now? There's hardly anything, right? And I think that we're all still trying to figure out who we are and what we can be.”
Keep in mind, compensation can come in many ways. Added depth, added cap space, future draft capital. Any one of these things can pique a front office’s interest. The Celtics can really offer two of the three. They don’t have the financial flexibility to take in additional salary.
The most likely outcome is them either finding a partner to take on Anfernee Simons’ contract to help them potentially avoid the luxury tax, or pushing their chips to the middle of the table and trying to land a high-caliber big man.
Both scenarios likely involve Simons, but it’s still not guaranteed that they trade him -- or do anything for that matter. Stevens made it clear, if the deal isn’t good, then they’re not eager to make any moves.