Final 2015 NBA Trade Deadline Shopping List for the Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are in an interesting place approaching the 2015 trade deadline. They are right in that awkward sweet spot between embracing the tank and chasing the No. 8 seed.
With that said, the C’s have two goals to consider when approaching prospective deals: turning their veterans into something meaningful and addressing their current needs in ways that don’t sacrifice future flexibility.
This won’t be an especially active trade deadline, particularly since Boston has dealt most of its coveted pieces already, but the squad is still a work in progress and will surely sniff around deals.
While NBA.com’s Sam Smith has Boston kicking the tires on Enes Kanter and DeMarcus Cousins, it is more likely the team guns for a smaller deal centered around one of its expiring veterans.
With all of that considered, let’s look at four potential areas of need and what the C’s could do to address them ahead of this season’s deadline.
Long-Range Shooting for the Future
Boston’s offensive system calls for outside shooting at nearly every spot on the floor.
That’s a problem, because the Celtics have a ghastly group of perimeter shooters on their roster right now. They rank just 24th in team three-point percentage, hitting a mere 32.7 percent of their attempts from range.
Marcus Thornton is their best sniper, hitting 41.9 percent of his three-pointers, but Thornton is on an expiring contract and could be dealt prior to the trade deadline.
Marcus Smart (35 percent) and Avery Bradley (35.2 percent) are decent when open, but Boston needs another volume shooter who can maintain a high clip while launching five or six triples per game.
A fast-paced offense like the one head coach Brad Stevens is implementing requires floor spacing both for fast-break threes and to help create driving lanes.
The Atlanta Hawks and San Antonio Spurs are such gifted offensive teams because they combine whip-smart passing and unselfishness with strong shooting at nearly every position.
The C’s have Jared Sullinger (28.9 percent) and Kelly Olynyk (35.3 percent) who can create matchup problems with their shooting, but neither one is consistent from beyond the arc.
Another important factor to note is that Boston should be looking for young shooters with the potential to grow and stay in green.
It makes no sense to deal for a veteran gunner who’ll be gone in 2015-16 just so it can boost its chance of nabbing the No. 8 seed.
Obviously Boston isn’t going to pry away some of the game’s elite shooters from their current homes. But with a sufficient package, it could explore options for pieces like Marcus Morris (39.7 percent), Terrence Ross (36.8 percent) or Wesley Johnson (36.3 percent).
None of these players would be easy acquisitions, but they are all young and have expanding skill sets in addition to an outside stroke that could mesh with the next era of Celtics basketball.
Ways to Open Up Minutes for Rookies and Project Players
For as well as Thornton, Brandon Bass and Tayshaun Prince have been playing, it just doesn’t make sense for the C’s to keep giving them significant tread.
They are all on expiring deals, so it’s unlikely Boston could get note-worthy future assets for them. The real value in dealing veterans would be to open up minutes for the youngest Celtics.
A player like James Young isn’t ready to thrive in the league yet, but he could get some invaluable experience down the stretch of the 2015-16 season if Boston clears some room in its rotation.
With Bass gone, Olynyk and Sully would get more offensive touches and have the potential to expand their games and continue working on finesse skills.
Dealing Thornton would hurt the C’s spacing but open up more room and responsibility for Young, Smart and Bradley in the backcourt, which would be a positive.
Shipping Prince to a contender, (or Gerald Wallace, although that may be a pipe dream), would give Jae Crowder the opportunity to play consistent starter’s minutes for the rest of the year.
Obviously it goes against Stevens’ instinct as a coach to make the team worse in the short term, but Danny Ainge and the front office clearly understand that this is a rebuilding period.
Playoff contenders like the Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors and Portland Trail Blazers have decent assets and a need for bench depth that could make them potential landing spots for Boston’s veterans.
There is underutilized talent on the Celtics roster, and this is the time in a rebuilding period when it is crucial to assess who is a keeper and who is not part of the long-term foundation.
Assets That Aren’t Draft Picks
As impressive as it is that Boston has managed to acquire a cartoonish nine first-rounders (of varying protections), the problem with hoarding draft picks is that you eventually have to do something with them.
At some point, Ainge will have to either use these picks to select young players or try to put together a package to acquire a disgruntled superstar.
The reality is, acquiring more draft picks, unless they are guaranteed to fall in the lottery, no longer makes much sense for the C’s.
Instead, the team should focus on acquiring different kinds of assets while exploring deals to ship out its remaining veterans.
One option would be to pursue international players whose rights are owned by NBA teams.
A player like Davis Bertans, who Basketball Insiders’ David Pick described as having “…[excellent shooting mechanics] and he owns an ultra-quick release to his stroke. The 2011 draftee is a pure shooter who can knock down shots running off screens or creating off the dribble…,” would make a great fit in green.
The Spurs currently own his rights, but they are gearing up for another title run and could be interested in some short-term assistance.
Another option would be center Nikola Jokic, whom the Denver Nuggets drafted with the 41st pick in the 2014 draft.
Jokic is an incredibly skilled big man with a reliable outside stroke and tremendous passing instincts, plus he’s just 19 years old.
Obviously, the other route is to try and nab prospects currently languishing in smaller roles on contending teams.
Players like Meyers Leonard and Otto Porter Jr. have both shown flashes of competency with the Portland Trail Blazers and Washington Wizards, respectively, but likely won’t be in the postseason rotation.
Now would be a perfect time to make an offer that included those players, who could be fully assessed in an expanded role with Boston.
To put it simply, whatever the C’s decide to do going forward, they should be looking for more than just another bevy of protected draft picks.
A True Rim Protector
The C’s had a potential answer here in Brandan Wright, but he never fit smoothly, and the Celtics shipped him to the Phoenix Suns just a few weeks into his Boston tenure.
Now the team once again has a hole in the middle that it needs to address before it gets back to legitimate contention.
For as talented as Sully and Olynyk are offensively, they are minuses on the other end of the floor and lack the timing and athleticism to consistently protect the hoop.
Boston is just 28th in blocks per game at 3.9, and it has repeated problems denying penetration when a guard gets to the rim.
Tyler Zeller tries hard and has a solid field-goal percentage allowed at the rim of 49.8 percent, per NylonCalculus, but he isn’t a volume shot-blocker.
Luckily, there a few potential options out there who could help in this regard. JaVale McGee is clearly on the outs with the Denver Nuggets but has the athletic ability to protect the basket.
Miles Plumlee of the Phoenix Suns is another option who has been in trade rumors and flashed competency protecting the basket and has strong athletic upside.
Obviously the Celts also have the option to address this issue through the draft, pursuing a player like Willie Cauley-Stein or Montrezl Harrell who could both develop into solid shot-blockers at the next level.
Still, Boston is in an interesting position to address what has been a glaring need for years without giving away too many of its future assets.
Chasing a legitimate rim protector should be among the team’s top priorities this season.
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