CLEVELAND — The Celtics enter the trade deadline in a terrific position compared to the rest of the NBA. They have their entire core locked up long term and are unlikely to need any changes to the rotation. However, Boston has still been busy having plenty of conversations over the past few weeks while assessing the needs of the roster.
This current iteration of the defending champions could use a tweak or two to the roster, albeit how much exactly is debatable. With that in mind, there are a few routes this team could take in the next two days as Brad Stevens tries to put the finishing touches on the depth chart. Here are a closer look at those options:
Clear roster spots for free agent buyouts route
This is the simplest and probably the likeliest path at this point. Stevens took a similar path last season when he dealt away Lamar Stevens and Dalano Banton ahead of the trade deadline simply to free up those roster spots. Boston ultimately brought aboard Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer in as separate deal and then later signed Neemias Queta to fill a 15th roster spot.
This time around, the obvious candidate to be moved in this path would be Jaden Springer due to his $4 million salary. If the Celtics want to clear out any other players (Xavier Tillman?) for a free agent on the buyout market, they would need to make that move proactively here.
Moving Springer or Tillman to another team shouldn’t cost any serious draft capital finding someone with a TPE or cap room to absorb Springer’s deal could be tricky. Throwing in a second-round pick or another sweetener should be enough to get it done unless they find a rebuilding team that wants a free look at him.
Find a cheap rental upgrade via trade
This could be done in combination with the clear roster spots path but will involve using some draft compensation. The Celtics still have the ability to absorb any player making a minimum salary contract without sending out money so that type of trade feels likely given the steep cost of adding any salary beyond the minimum to the roster.
Whether it’s a wing making the minimum (Javonte Green? Garrison Matthews?) or a big (Guerschon Yabusele?), the Celtics have several second round picks that could be used as a sweetener in any deal since their own minimum deals that could be moved don’t have value at this point.
This has been Stevens’ preferred paths for the last two seasons with low-cost additions like Mike Muscala and Xavier Tillman rounding out the last two trade deadlines at minimal cost.
Get aggressive with draft capital for a cheap upgrade with team control
This is a long shot since the Celtics would be walking a tight rope of finding a player making cheap money (under $4 million) worthy of first round draft capital. There are only a few names that check those boxes this week (Walker Kessler, Touimani Camara) and it’s unclear whether those guys would be available at all for what the Celtics have to offer. Giving up a first round pick for either player would be an easy sell. Multiple first-round picks for a guy who probably can’t crack Boston’s rotation when fully healthy is something Stevens would understandably balk at.
With that said, the Celtics are in a unique contending window here and acquiring a good insurance policy for the present and potential piece for the future should be considered. The Celtics would have to have a very high outlook for this type of cheap player to take that kind of swing.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, some combination of the first two options feels like the most likely play here for the Celtics. Stevens has done well maximizing the roster with midseason moves amid limited salary limitations the last few seasons. The expectation here is he does the same again to maximize Boston’s contending window for at least one more year here with upgraded bench depth.
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