February hasn’t been kind to the Boston Celtics. They are 2-4 in games this month, including rough losses to the Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards. This recent stretch is not representative of this Celtics team, though. They are missing All-Defender Marcus Smart, and Kemba Walker is still getting reintegrated. They won’t lose as many games they’re supposed to win once their core is 100 percent.
While their inevitable All-Stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, have generated plenty of scoring at ease, they’re having a rough time getting points from anyone else, particularly off the bench.
The Celtics also don’t seem to have a definitive answer at center. While their center-by-committee has worked between Tristan Thompson, Daniel Theis, and Robert Williams, no one has particularly stuck out. This could be problematic when they face elite big men in the playoffs.
Boston gave up two second-round draft picks to the Charlotte Hornets to convince them to acquire Gordon Hayward through a sign-and-trade, rather than signing him outright. This allowed the Celtics to generate a $28.5 million traded player exception (TPE). As time goes on, it’s becoming harder to see the Celtics using it on a player as good as Hayward. What makes a deal even more difficult is their lack of assets. The Celtics went from having multiple first-round picks in the last several drafts to just having their own from here on out.
They could make a case to save the TPE until the upcoming offseason for a potential sign-and-trade for a top free agent. That would be difficult, however, since they’re already projected to be right below the hard cap with Tatum’s maximum extension kicking in. They would need to get off a lot of salary to make that work, which could further decimate their already lacking depth. The best time for them to use the TPE is now before the March 25 trade deadline.
Here are some players the Celtics could pursue with their TPE: