Tag: celtics trade targets

Celtics increasingly tied to Kings’ Barnes, per SI’s Mannix, Athletic’s Amick

The rumor mill is starting to kick into high gear for Boston’s trade targets.

The Boston Celtics have been tied to Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes previously this season, and it seems Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix has been hearing from sources that the former Team USA teammate of Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown is among their preferred targets.

Writing about Boston’s $28.5 million traded player exception (TPE), and who the Celtics might be targeting with it, Mannix related the team is “high on … Barnes,” adding that “the Kings forward who could be moved by Sacramento,” a team which has lost eight of its last 10 games heading into the break.

This seems to gibe with what The Athletic’s Sam Amick is hearing about Boston around the league. He notes a deal for Barnes is one “so many front office folks around the league believe could be coming.”

Rockets may have a fire sale at trade deadline; could this be Celtics’ focus?

If Houston is ready to tear it down to the foundation, Boston ought to be ready with some offers.

For those of us focused on the Boston Celtics, we may not stay as up to date on what’s going on in the Western Conference when the Celtics aren’t on their annual West Coast swing. But for those of us who have been focused more on the Atlantic Division and specifically Boston, the Houston Rockets are a mess at 11-23, good for the 14th-best record in their conference.

Things have gotten so bad we are starting to hear rumbles of a fire sale at the trade deadline as team owner Tillman Fertita and his front office sell off useful pieces in an effort to maximize their future draft capital in a rebuild.

“Houston’s gonna burn the house down,” said a rival NBA executive, reports Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer.

Grant, Vucevic, Beal, Barnes: Celtics trade target deep dive on HoopsHype podcast

How are analysts seeing the Celtics’ trade horizon right now?

Things are starting to heat up at the Boston Celtics trade rumor mill with the March 25 deadline drawing closer by the day, and with it speculation grows about what the team is really after — if it plans to make any moves at all.

Over on our sister site HoopsHype, resident lead NBA analyst Michael Scotto is joined by Boston writer Jay King of The Athletic to talk all things Celtics ahead of the NBA trade deadline. And they don’t just talk about the veracity of Jerami Grant and Nikola Vucevic interest reporting circulating around the media at the moment, they also get into the teeth of the context around Boston’s current situation.

How does their record, their health and recent past figure into the contemporary situation? How about coaching? Are they playing to, below or above reasonable expectations?

Give the pod embedded above a listen as these two analysts get into the team’s short- and long-term future with regards to team-building via trades.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

[lawrence-related id=47585,47577,47575,47549]

[listicle id=47578]

Infeasible, unavailable – just right? Five potential Celtics trade targets

Who should Boston be targeting in a trade to right the ship?

The Boston Celtics are struggling at 15 wins and as many losses in a season they were projected by many to be a contender after their strong showing in the Disney-hosted Orlando “bubble” playoffs, to the dismay of their hopeful fans.

But the list of potential fixes for the team — armed with a historically-large traded player exception generated by star Gordon Hayward’s departure to the Charlotte Hornets in the offseason — seems to grow larger by the hour, and The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor has weighed in with his own thoughts. The former Celtics Blogger has some opinions on the feasibility of a number of popular proposals — let’s take a look at his assessment of how to address Boston’s woes.

Danny Ainge wants ‘shooting with size’ for Celtics: 5 potential options

On a recent radio show, the Celtics president shared he thinks Boston needs ‘shooting with size;’ to that end, here are 5 potential targets.

Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge recently revealed that he thinks the team needs to go after ‘shooting with size’ on a recent episode of the popular New England sports radio show “Toucher and Rich”.

And with over seven weeks of the 2020-21 NBA season behind us, we are starting to get a clearer picture of which teams might be buyers and sellers at the Mar. 25 trade deadline, a few weeks perhaps before being where Ainge thinks the best time to strike may be. Armed withs a better picture of what teams may be more realistic targets for the Boston Celtics to work with in order to make use of their historically-large traded player exception (TPE), it sounds like the Celtic chief may have a player or two in mind.

To that end, we put together a list of four candidates who could fit that TPE, and one more that slides right into the one created by the Enes Kanter trade. Let’s take a look at the likely targets.

Report: Celtics made offer for Detroit’s Wood, but Pistons balked

The Boston Celtics reportedly made a call about the Detroit Pistons’ Christian Wood, but were rebuffed — will they make a move for a big man today?

It seems like reporting suggesting the Boston Celtics are looking for a big man is accurate, with word coming from The Athletic’s Detroit Pistons beat writer James Edwards III that Boston made an offer for forward Christian Wood.

Detroit, evidently, was not especially interested in whatever the Celtics had in mind, but Wood should definitely be on Boston’s short list of low-cost options to bolster their bench rotation.

Scoring 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in 18 minutes per contest in a reserve role with the Pistons while shooting 37.6 % from three 1.7 times a game, the 6-foot-10 big fits the profile of the sort of player the Celtics should be looking into.

The UNLV product shoots well and often enough from the perimeter that he’d be able to fill in as a starter in some lineups, and would give Boston an excellent option off the bench most nights.

The rejection by Detroit’s brass doesn’t necessarily mean any potential deal for the 24-year-old big man is dead in the water, but if negotiations continue, it’ll likely require a significant offer for a player that seems to be part of the Pistons’ plans going forward.

The reporting, if accurate, does help us tease out the sort of direction Boston hopes to move in before the 3pm ET deadline arrives, if nothing else.

With a team thriving off the chemistry they’ve built this season, there is no major urgency for the Celtics to make a move.

Conversely, with as many as three incoming draft picks and not enough spots available next season to roster them, a trade is also not out of the question.

[lawrence-related id=28574,28567,28542,28527]

Celtics have ‘strong interest’ in Wizards’ Davis Bertans: Mannix

Washington Wizards swingman Davis Bertans is of interest to the Boston Celtics ahead of the 2020 NBA trade deadline, reports Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix.

One end-of-the-bench move the Boston Celtics have been connected to in past weeks may be heating up as the Feb. 6 trade deadline approaches: a deal for the Washington Wizards sharpshooting forward Davis Bertans.

Boston has been linked to the 6-foot-10 swingman several times this season, despite Wizards general manager Tommy Shepherd repeatedly expressing a lack of interest in dealing the Latvian.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reports that Boston continues to have a “strong interest” in acquiring the 27-year-old’s services, noting the Valmiera native “could join the frontcourt rotation and juice what has been a brutally bad shooting bench,” which Mannis relates as 28th-best in the NBA.

Mannix believes including picks the team in truth won’t have space to roster without consolidatory moves anyway might be enough to convince Shepherd to listen, and he might have a point.

But Boston also needs to consider Bertans will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

They could see the assets and player contracts included for salary matching effectively walk out the door with him in a season they may not be able to afford to match offer sheets coming the fourth-year veteran’s way — if he wants to stay with the Celtics at all.

Conversely, he could be thought of as Gordon Hayward insurance in case the Butler product dips his toe in a shallow free agency market this summer, with the forward able to opt-out of the final season of his current deal.

As each hour passes and the three p.m. deadline for completing trades on Thursday draws nearer, expect more and more rumbles like this. Much of what we hear and read may be posturing and leverage attempts.

But, there’s also probably some fire to go with all the smoke for narratives like this one that have stuck around for some time.

[lawrence-related id=28476,28429,28402,28384]

The case for trading with the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are one of the few teams looking to rebuild ahead of the trade deadline — do they have any players the Boston Celtics should be looking into?

The Boston Celtics have some decisions to make about the trade market this week.

In a season that’s as wide open as any in the last decade or longer in terms of chasing banners, even fringe contenders could conceivably see their way to the NBA Finals with the right deal to bolster a bench rotation.

The problem with that, however, is that with the field so open, there happens to be a distinct lack of sellers to make those all-important bench improvements — never mind a left-field, eleventh-hour blockbuster.

However, at least one team has decided to wave the white flag on this season, and very well may have a toe in the rebuild pool to gauge the temperature, and that team is the Detroit Pistons.

While they may not have the horses to make it to the 2020 NBA Playoffs, the Pistons do have a number of players of interest to the Celtics, and no, none of them are Andre Drummond (no offense, Big Penguin — it’s just not in the cards).

As has been noted too many times to spend much ink on here, Drummonds fit, free agency situation and cap impact make him a poor option for the Celtics, and while teammate Derrick Rose may be intriguing to many teams, for the Celtics, the fit, age and cost are not especially great for Boston.

Combo guard Langston Galloway, however, would make for a more flexible option to add some shooting off the bench, connecting on 39.8 % from beyond the arc this season on 5 attempts per contest if not for the fact he’s earning too much to justify any of the salaries he’d be needing going back.

Earning $7.3 million this season — the same as Rose — any deal would require including one of Boston’s better young prospects like Grant or Robert Williams (no relation) or Romeo Langford.

And while both have skills that would boost Boston’s postseason success, neither do so enough to warrant auctioning off a player who might have a bigger role on a later, more likely contender.

This leaves the lower-cost options, though they are by no means lesser-value players.

Markieff Morris offers much of what his brother did for the Celtics — perimeter defense and shooting at a bargain price — while earning a fraction of his brother’s current $15 million contract with the New York Knicks.

Shooting 39.3 % from three to his twin’s 36.9 %, the Kansas product is actually defending a little better than his brother this season and pulling down 5.4 boards per game in contrast to Marcus’ 4.7.

Making just $3.2 million with a player option for $3.3, Markieff could be an ideal candidate for Boston’s bench, and should be available for salary match and a second-rounder.

Another such option is sharpshooter Luke Kennard. Oft-injured but lethal from beyond the arc, he shoots 39.9 % from that range 6.5 times a game, can distribute well when called on, and at 6-foot-5 and 23 years old, would be worth the likely first and quality player he’d require in exchange.

If Detroit wants more, they’ll probably just keep him, though they do risk losing him for naught the summer after next if they don’t want to match whatever offer sheet he could get in 2021. For now, though, he earns just $3.8 million — easy to match in any deal.

22-year-old wing Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk is an intriguing option earning a mere $1.4 million this season with $1.6 million team option next season, and shoots a ridiculous 43.3 % from three on 4.5 attempts per game. He’s still pretty raw and a terrible defender, but absolutely worth a call.

Big man Christian Wood could be an excellent candidate as well, able to provide shooting (36.8 % from 3-point land) and rebounding (5.3 per game) with some size if not heft (he stands 6-foot-10, but weighs just 214 llbs.) at just 24 years of age.

He makes just $1.6 million this season, but could earn a fairly big paycheck and would likely require a first-round pick from Boston to get in any serious conversation to move a player young enough to be worth signing through a rebuild.

While there aren’t any slam-dunk contention-defining option on the Pistons, their embrace of their rebuild and deep bench make them a near-ideal trade partner for the Celtics.

There is a better-than-good chance this team simply stands pat on the deadline, there’s probably good odds if it does make a deal, it will be with the Motor City franchise.

[lawrence-related id=27473,26181,28275,28188]

Ex-Celtic Antoine Walker thinks Boston needs a big man

Ex-Boston Celtic forward Antoine Walker has some thoughts on what sort of move his former team ought to look to make to maximise their postseason success.

Former Boston Celtic forward Antoine Walker has some thoughts on what Boston should be looking for ahead of the 2020 NBA trade deadline.

Unlike many of his peers, he steers clear of specific players he’d like the celtics to target, but in a recent appearance on WEEI radio show Dale & Keefe, the ex-Celtic related he thought his former team could use a bit of an upgrade in terms of size.

Much attention has been focused on supplementing Boston’s wing depth in case of a postseason injury to a starter.

There’s also been several high-profile big man trade suggestions to address the Celtics lack of heft in the frontcourt, but Walker stayed away from naming names, instead focusing on what he felt was Boston’s biggest roster problem.

“[The Celtics] lack size,” he began (courtesy of WEEI’s Nick Friar). “I didn’t think they would really miss him [at first], but I think they really miss Al Horford.”

“A guy who can stretch the floor, who can pay the four and the five … Enes Kanter, I think, has been serviceable, he’s been good,” the Kentucky product added.

“But if they can make a move for a big, maybe a rebounder, [they should] because they have enough scoring,” concluded Walker. In a sense, he’s not wrong. Boston may even have too much scoring, at least at the starter level, to guarantee star happiness if things were to go south in terms of morale.

However, as former Memphis Grizzlies GM John Hollinger has noted, the drop-off after the starters for consistent scoring is a gulf talentwise, and could spell trouble in the playoffs. Even still, his point about the Celtics’ need for a counter to some of the East’s more talented bigs is not wrong.

The question is how to counter such players?

“They’re going to have to be able to match up with a Joel Embiid,” noted Walker. “Milwaukee is pretty big inside. So if they can make a move, I don’t know who that right guy is. You don’t want to give up all of your key assets, or a big key asset that you have.”

And therein is the difficulty, and perhaps a reason why the former Celtic didn’t offer up any candidates. Boston can absolutely use a player able to better match up against such bigs — but then so could most of the teams in the league.

Adding the sort of frontcourt player stout enough to at least slow the Embiids and Giannises of the league isn’t out of the question, but such talent comes at a premium, and might require packaging players that would hurt Boston’s game in other ways as well as those premium draft assets they’d rather keep.

It’s quite possible the conundrum Walker struck on forces the Celtics to make a small move to add scoring to the end of the bench. They could very possibly make no moves at all, given the potential high cost of any player able to make an impact.

We’ll know for sure one way or another by the end of next week when the Feb. 6 deadline arrives.

[lawrence-related id=27997,27963,27922,27908]

 

A look at Boston’s likely trade market options

While there is a growing consensus a big move for Boston is unlikely before the February 6th trade deadline, experts aren’t ruling a deal out for the Celtics.

With just two weeks remaining for NBA teams to consummate whatever deals they plan to make for the remainder of the 2019-20 season left, we can expect the market to start heating up in the coming days.

But should we expect movement from the Boston Celtics this season, and if so, what would it look like? With so many teams believing they might be in the hunt for a ring and so few expiring deals to grease the tracks, it could well be a tepid trade season.

The Celtics are emblematic of this conundrum, with all positive value contracts for big-money players (with Gordon Hayward perhaps a minor exception), leaving them ill-prepared to make a splashy move despite a solid warchest of draft assets at their disposal.

Thus, analysts are predicting a slow to non-existent trade season for the franchise, with a small move to reinforce bench scoring and shooting being the most likely move if any are made.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4