Celtics Takeaways from 2023 NBA Trade Deadline
The Boston Celtics weren't totally silent at the 2023 NBA trade deadline, but they kept things about as quiet as you'd expect.
They are, after all, the proud owners of the season's highest winning percentage and best net rating. This obviously isn't broken, so why try to fix it, right?
The Celtics made a minor move that netted them backup big man Mike Muscala, but otherwise, they watched a flurry of activity around them.
How much can someone actually learn from one marginal move? More than you might think.
Boston Believes in Sam Hauser
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The Celtics were ready to expand Sam Hauser's role this season, and they looked super smart for doing it when he sprinted out of the gate. By the end of November, he was toting around a sizzling 51.4/47.9/77.8 shooting slash.
The cold winter months grabbed hold of him shortly thereafter, though, and he tumbled into a frigid spell. Between December and January, all three levels of his slash line tanked, leaving him with the unsightly line of 35.5/29.5/50.
Given his lack of proven production at this level and Boston's otherwise thin wing rotation behind Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, it felt like the Shamrocks could (or even should) seek out other, more established options at the deadline. They resisted that temptation.
Hauser has made them look like geniuses ever since. Injuries have forced him to handle an expanded role, and he's been up to that task (and then some). He is shooting 51.6 percent overall and 50 percent from range in February while posting the team's sixth-highest plus/minus at a massive plus-8.0 points per game.
Mike Muscala Will Get Meaningful Playoff Minutes
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As badly as Boston needed another big man—Robert Williams III has a scary injury history, and Al Horford will turn 37 during the Finals—it never seemed smart for this club to pay a premium to fill that role.
The Celtics seemingly knew that, too. While they made a push for defensive anchor Jakob Poeltl, they probably knew their offer—Payton Pritchard, Danilo Gallinari and multiple second-round picks, per MassLive.com's Brian Robb—wouldn't get it done.
That's fine. They only have so minutes available in the frontcourt, and Muscala is more than capable of filling them.
Matchups might determine whether Muscala, Luke Kornet or neither sees the floor, but there will certainly be important playoff stretches during which the Celtics decide they need Muscala's shooting threat to help spread the floor. The 6'10" center is a career 37.9 percent shooter from the arc, and he's sinking better than 39 percent of his long-range looks this season.
Top Trade Candidates Could Be Helpful to Have for the Postseason
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In an alternate universe, Boston could have gotten busy at the deadline.
Payton Pritchard may have been snatched up by a team with a bigger role available to him than the Celtics can offer. Grant Williams might have elicited a Godfather offer from someone seeking the right of first refusal for his restricted free agency. Boston may have even sniffed out a big enough swap to need Danilo Gallinari's contract to make the money work.
In our reality, of course, none of those deals came to fruition—and the Celtics are probably better off for it.
It's hard to tell what kind of place (if any) Pritchard, Williams and Gallinari have in the franchise's future, but the Celtics can afford to prioritize the present over everything. And at the moment, Williams is a critical component of this frontcourt, Pritchard is an ignitable offensive threat when called upon, and Gallinari is quietly an intriguing wild card should his ACL recovery finish in time for him to find the floor for short stretches.
