How Should The Boston Celtics Approach The Trade Deadline?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chrisgrenham/2021/03/19/how-should-the-boston-celtics-approach-the-trade-deadline/?sh=55bdcfcb5d0e



Mar 19, 2021,05:30am EST


How Should The Boston Celtics Approach The Trade Deadline?



Chris Grenham

SportsMoney


The questions surrounding the Celtics are getting louder and louder as the NBA trade deadline approaches, and with less than one week to go, Boston’s on-court struggles are only making things more difficult for president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.

So, sitting at 20-20, should the Celtics be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline? It’s a popular debate right now, but the Celtics are not actually going to be sellers (a team willing to move core pieces). Whether or not that’s the wise approach, it just won’t happen.

First, let’s be clear: Trading Tristan Thompson, for example, is not what I mean when I say selling. That’s a move Boston could potentially make in the next six days, and it would be a smart one at that. A true seller, however, is willing to move core players for future assets, and the Celtics won’t do that one week from now. They aren’t moving Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, or even Robert Williams at the deadline. With two All-Stars at the top of the roster, Ainge won’t be sending out players left and right come March 25. With all of that said, entering the deadline as buyers seems like a rather unappealing option as well. The Celtics have to pick a side, but neither one is very attractive right now.

The Celtics are not contenders this season, and nothing they do in the next week will turn them into one. It’s a grim short-term outlook, but right now, it’s definitely true. In his weekly Thursday morning appearance on 98.5’s Toucher and Rich, Ainge said the Celtics lack resolve and the characteristics of a really good team. He’s right, and Wednesday’s loss to the 15-25 Cavaliers was a prime example. Boston came out of the gates in Cleveland with an eye-popping lack of effort and intensity, something this team has made a habit of doing against less-talented opponents.

It was almost as if the Celtics walked into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and fully expected the Cavaliers to just lay down. On NBC Sports Boston following the loss, Kendrick Perkins said it felt like they had a sense of entitlement to them. That may be a bit harsh, but there undoubtedly is a troubling lack of motivation with this team. Boston’s roster is poorly constructed, and we’ve discussed that on numerous occasions, but that can be true while also having an unmotivated group. I would argue that the two are tied together. Tatum and Brown are smart basketball minds, and they certainly realize that this roster, as it stands right now, can’t compete with the top of the Eastern Conference. It’s quite possible that the roster’s personnel issues are resulting in the type of energy we saw in Wednesday’s first half. That isn’t an excuse, and the players would be the first to tell you so, but I have a hard time seeing past a correlation there. If anything, it is further reasoning to make a move ahead of the deadline.

This team needs help. Semi Ojeleye has played 38 total minutes in the last two games and scored five points on four shots. Ainge has to make a move at the deadline to get this roster some reinforcements. Again, nothing they do at this trade deadline will turn them into contenders, but there are moves that can help the team out regardless, both in the short-term and long-term. Sitting on your hands as a front office doesn’t do any good at this point.

Take Harrison Barnes as an example. He still makes a ton of sense for the Celtics as a trade target by adding a shooting wing with size and defensive versatility, even if it doesn’t push them to the highest level. Acquiring Barnes won’t come cheap, however. The seller market is limited, which will drive up costs and simultaneously lower the number of trades. Despite those obstacles, Barnes is a veteran presence who can help the Celtics for the remainder of the season and into the future, both as an on-court addition and a bigger, tradable contract. That move, of course, would involve Boston’s $28.5 million trade exception, an asset that Ainge has hinted at saving for the offseason.

If the price for Barnes is too high and the rest of the market yields unappealing returns, there is value in being (light) sellers. As I mentioned before, I see no scenario where this team is full-on selling, but scoping out the market for Thompson, or even Jeff Teague and Semi Ojeleye, makes a lot of sense. There is no need to play Teague rotation minutes for the remainder of the season if the inevitable outcome is the No. 6 seed and a first-round exit. Attempting to get any assets in return for some of your veterans, while allowing Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford and other young players to get meaningful playing time could create valuable development opportunities. No, Ainge won’t be able to get much of anything in return, but forcing Stevens’ hand toward increased roles for younger players would be a good thing. That sort of scenario isn’t a flashy deadline approach, but it would pay dividends for the organization.

If Boston can’t get Barnes or a comparable player, then it needs to try and move back-end veterans in an effort to develop its young players. Do I think that’s what the front office will do? No. I’d expect a small move or two that brings in a player like Garrett Temple — a short-term fix at the wing on a relatively cheap contract. From there, you ride out the remainder of the season and then address the potential changes this summer.

There isn’t an easy answer here, and the limited market only complicates that. The latter aforementioned scenario isn’t a bad one, but it sets the Celtics up for a potential shakeup this summer. As it stands right now, Boston’s core group can’t compete with the Eastern Conference’s elite, and at some point, the front office will need to make a bigger change. That won’t happen in the next week, but the trade deadline could be telling of Boston’s approach to the offseason.


Bob



.