5 trades the Boston Celtics should explore
By Roje Smith
The Boston Celtics are one player away from being true contenders in the Eastern Conference and these are five trades that they should explore to reach that goal.
We’re officially in the trade season for the NBA and it expires on Feb. 27. This is the time where rumors start flying around the league about possible deals. Usually, a lot of speculation surrounds teams that are close to becoming a strong contender in their conference. For this season, one of those teams is the Boston Celtics.
The kings of the Eastern Conference and the NBA are clearly the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’re also one of the favorites to win the championship again this year. Not many teams in the East are a challenge for Cleveland and they tend to steamroll most of their conference opponents.
However, there are two teams that can put up a strong fight, especially in a seven-game playoff series. One of those teams is the Toronto Raptors, who pushed the Cavaliers to a Game 6 before being eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals. The other is the Celtics.
Boston made a significant stride closer to the level of Cleveland with the addition of Al Horford for this season. He’s meshing well with the team and the Celtics currently have a 19-14 record. However, the belief is that they’re one major player away from truly being a serious contender. This is why Boston seems to be involved in a plethora of trade rumors, and we all know that general manager Danny Ainge will relentlessly work the market looking to improve his franchise.
The biggest need for the Celtics is an improvement in their frontcourt, especially at the power forward position. Let’s take a look at five players that they should strongly consider making a trade for.
5. Nikola Vucevic – Orlando Magic
Vucevic is currently stuck in a frontcourt logjam with the Orlando Magic. This is due to the team acquiring Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo in the offseason. As a result, he isn’t receiving the 30+ minutes a game that he did during previous seasons. When you consider how Frank Vogel prioritizes defense, it appears as if Nikola is the odd man out.
Additionally, Orlando isn’t a very good team this year with a current record of 15-19. Therefore, it makes sense for them to possibly move Vucevic in a trade. Luckily for them, Celtics are a team that they can definitely make a deal with.
One of Boston’s deficiencies with their big men is a lack of rebounding. It’s something that needs to vastly improve in order for them to take their game to the next level. It just so happens that rebounding is the main strength of Vucevic. Despite receiving less time on the court this season, he is still averaging 10.4 boards per game.
Nikola is also a pretty good offensive player with an effective jump shot. He is someone that can add immediate value to the Celtics’ roster, but they will need to provide Orlando with acceptable return value for him.
A valid trade that works financially is the Celtics sending Amir Johnson to Orlando in exchange for Vucevic. However, Nikola’s scoring ability makes this a losing deal for the Magic since his on-the-court value is much higher than Johnson’s.
Another trade that works is Boston sending Jonas Jerekbo and Kelly Olynyk to the Magic for Vucevic. Jerekbo and Olynyk are both viable stretch bigs. They will be able to match the lost scoring from Nikola’s absence. Boston can even include a future draft pick to make the deal sweeter for Orlando.
There are better players that the Celtics can go after before the trade deadline. However, if those options prove to be too expensive for them, then going after Vucevic is a suitable alternative.