NBA Trade Rumors: Celtics tried trading Marcus Smart for Nerlens Noel

The Boston Celtics are trying to shake things up in the NBA Draft, but could trading Marcus Smart be on their agenda?

Next: Biggest Mistakes In NBA Draft History

When the NBA Draft commences later this week, the Boston Celtics are hoping they can shake things up and make some moves. One of those moves though might involves trading Marcus Smart — which is a much larger move than anyone was anticipating.

According to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, the Celtics had discussions with the 76ers to trade Marcus Smart to Philadelphia but there was minimal interest in that deal. In the proposed trade, of which it’s unclear how serious the discussions were, the Sixers would have given up Nerlens Noel and the No. 3 pick for the Celtics’ two first-round picks as well as Smart.

While it seems insane that the Celtics would take their cornerstone franchise player and swap him out for another one, it’s in line with rumblings that Danny Ainge is trying to shake things up in the draft.

Ainge says he thinks there'll be a lot of movement on draft day: "Stay tuned." Says he's trying to move up w/both 1st round picks.
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) June 23, 2015

If this means the Celtics are interested in moving their two first-round picks, then that’s fine. Adding in Marcus Smart to the equation makes things tricky, as he’s seemed to be a large part of Boston’s future up until this rumor broke. Boston made the postseason, after all, and the final motivational push to trade Rajon Rondo was the presence of Smart.

Rondo was on his way out anyways and the Celtics lit it up in the second half of the season, so it’s not like Smart was the end-all be-all solution for Danny Ainge. It’s also worth noting that Ainge didn’t acknowledge this rumor when he talked about trading up, but it’s still a situation to monitor as the NBA Draft approaches.

More from Boston Celtics

Home/Boston Celtics