Report: Celtics best fit as a trade partner for Howard

Report: Celtics best fit as a trade partner for Howard

CSNNE

With the Houston Rockets officially shopping Dwight Howard, and apparently setting an exorbitant asking price, a lot of eyes are on the Celtics, whose interest in Howard, 30, has been reported for weeks.

Bobby Marks, the former Nets assistant GM who now writes for Yahoo Sports’ The Vertical, reports that the Celtics have the players and “treasure chest of draft picks” to get a deal done without touching their core.

Marks offers this hypothetical trade:

The Celtics send David Lee and his expiring contract, along with Jonas Jerebko, their own first-round pick, and the first-round pick they got from the Dallas Mavericks in the Rajon Rondo trade (top-7 protected) to the Rockets for Howard and Montrezl Harrell, the 6-8 rookie from Louisville.

More from Marks’ report:

For the Celtics, the addition of Howard could move them closer to the level of Cleveland and Toronto. Acquiring a player like Howard without moving any of their core pieces would make the Celtics a dangerous out come the spring. The Celtics also would not have to move the unprotected 2016 and 2018 Brooklyn Nets first-round picks or Memphis' future first-rounder.

This deal would not hurt the Celtics in the summer if Howard does decide to walk. Boston would have the same cap space if it would have kept Lee and Jerebko, just minus two first-round picks in the mid 20s.

Aside from Boston, there is a limited amount of teams in the Eastern Conference with the potential to do a deal.

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