Fansided

Pre-Christmas trades to shake up the NBA

By Brandon Jefferson

NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 11: Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans boxes out against Otto Porter Jr. #22 of the Washington Wizards on December 11, 2015 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/NBAE via Getty Images
NEW ORLEANS, LA - DECEMBER 11: Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans boxes out against Otto Porter Jr. #22 of the Washington Wizards on December 11, 2015 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2015 NBAE (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/NBAE via Getty Images /
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1. Terry Rozier to the Suns, Kelly Oubre Jr. to the Timberwolves, and Tyus Jones and Keita Bates-Diop to the Celtics

To wrap things up, how about everyone’s favorite type of deals: a three-team trade. The Boston Celtics entered the season with a stacked deck, but as we approach Christmas, this team is no longer the world-beating dynamo many expected. After some rotation changes and some of the top tier players missing time with injuries, the Celtics have settled in as a top-five team in the East to date.

However, their embarrassment of riches could put their feet to the fire at the deadline. Kyrie Irving has gone on record and said he wants to re-up with Boston this summer, but with Marcus Smart already on board for four years and $51 million, there doesn’t seem to be much room left to get a new deal for Terry Rozier done. Danny Ainge isn’t the type of general manager who would just let an asset like Rozier walk for nothing so he’ll definitely be working the phones.

The Phoenix Suns already got involved in trade season, but Kelly Oubre Jr. is approaching restricted free agency and there are teams out there that will want to bring him in to see if they can convince him to re-sign in the summer.

Next. Kyle Anderson's off-beat rhythm is the secret to his success. dark

A team like the Minnesota Timberwolves could use another quality wing to sure up their rotation. The Timberwolves also have something of a commodity in backup point guard Tyus Jones. There’s a #FreeTyus movement ongoing on NBA Twitter and shipping him to Boston is definitely a way to get the reserve guard more notoriety. Adding in Keita Bates-Diop ensures that the Celtics replenish their youth on the wing behind Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

We’ve seen how quickly these three-team deals can fall apart, thankfully there are no two players with the same last (or first) names involved in this prospective deal.

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