First-year Bull a consolation prize for Boston Celtics if they can't land Alex Caruso
Should the Boston Celtics front office prove unable to land Alex Caruso ahead of the February 8, 2024 trade deadline, Chowder and Champions' Joe Summers believes Jevon Carter would be a fine consolation prize from the Chicago Bulls.
"Should the asking price for Caruso prove too high, Carter is a solid consolation prize," Summer prefaced before saying, "He's a stout defender but limited offensively, making a pairing with a team full of scorers like Boston a logical destination.
"He'd be the perfect understudy to Jrue Holiday as a gritty, fierce competitor that can make opposing point guards' lives miserable."
Summers isn't convinced the price for Caruso will be that high anyway.
"Boston has one of the best defenses in the NBA already, but you can always use a high-quality wing defender in the playoffs," Summers wrote. "Caruso has battled numerous injuries, so his asking price could be driven down. A team with as much depth as Boston can be patient with Caruso, whereas a rebuilding squad like Chicago would be better off getting value while it can."
Boston Celtics should explore John Konchar-Jevon Carter double splash
Carter, who has a 2:1 career assist-turnover ratio, is a good trade piece by himself, but if the Celtics front office timed two separate deals with the Bulls and the Memphis Grizzlies for John Konchar, the combined splash would revamp a bench that's had a minimal impact on Boston's winning thus far outside of Al Horford's part-time second-unit leader contributions or Sam Hauser's scorching shooting nights. Add Xavier Tillman to that mix in the hypothetical Konchar deal and that's a fell swoop made toward shoring up the team's weaknesses ahead of the spring's Banner 18 run.
Brad Stevens did incredible work in the offseason to revamp the lineup into a potential all-time starting five but his job is incomplete.
Execute the aforementioned deals and there may be nothing left to do other than watch the job get done on the court -- and have a title secure his legacy as a great Celtics executive.