As the trade deadline approaches, the Celtics have good reason to feel confident. They lead the NBA with a 35-14 record, on pace for the team’s highest single-season win percentage in over a decade. They own the league’s best net rating at plus-5.9. They have performed at an even higher level against opponents with top-10 net ratings, racking up a league-best 10-3 record against such foes while pummeling them by 9.0 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass. The Boston roster, loaded with players who can help on both ends of the court, doesn’t necessarily need a lot of work.
Still, like any team, the Celtics will have a lot to consider by Feb. 9 deadline. Here are three big questions that will shape what Brad Stevens does.
1. Is the right big trade out there?
The Celtics don’t need to make a big trade. They have a talented group that meshes well on and off the court. Earlier this season, Malcolm Brogdon told several teammates that they should appreciate the tightness of their locker room. Stevens will not overlook that team chemistry. Boston spent years looking for a mixture that worked.
Still, if the right player becomes available at the right price, the Celtics could build a trade package that includes multiple first-round picks, but the team cannot include either a 2023 first-round pick (they no longer have one) or a 2024 first-round pick (due to the Stepien Rule, which requires teams to control at least one first-round selection every other year).
For a big trade like that, the Celtics would ideally want someone talented enough to slide into their closing lineup and young enough to complement Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for years to come. The difficulty there? It would take a heck of a player to fit that description. In most cases, the Celtics’ closing lineup will include Tatum, Brown, Marcus Smart and two of the following: Al Horford, Robert Williams, Derrick White and Brogdon. Could the Celtics find someone to not just crack that lineup but also be part of it moving forward?
Maybe a big, athletic power forward to take Horford’s spot next to Williams? Or a guard to serve as an upgrade to Smart, White and/or Brogdon? Potentially, but those types of players aren’t often available, and when they are, the competition to acquire them is fierce.
In this market, think OG Anunoby types. For a number of reasons, that particular target feels highly unlikely. The Raptors value him. If they do move him, they will reportedly ask for a huge return. Even on the Celtics’ side, such a trade would likely not be an automatic yes. They would need to evaluate how much Anunoby would help, plus the additional cost of acquiring him: The inability to use those future first-round picks down the road — and whatever else they would need to trade.
Still, whenever Anunoby or someone else of his caliber is available, the Celtics should weigh the merits of a pursuit. They don’t control all of their first-round picks after moving their 2023 selection in the Brogdon deal, but Boston does have enough future draft capital to get into those types of conversations for certain impact players.
That type of trade doesn’t need to come over the next couple of weeks. It probably won’t. The Celtics are comfortable with the roster they have. They are one of the favorites, if not the favorite, to win the championship, which would be the franchise’s 18th and would break a tie with the Lakers for the most in NBA history. The Celtics will have more flexibility to move first-round picks once the offseason arrives and they become unencumbered by the Stepien Rule.
OG Anunoby of the Toronto Raptors. (Dan Hamilton/USA Today)
2. Will the Celtics acquire more frontcourt help?
The Celtics are more likely to acquire another backup big man, as they have been scanning the market for frontcourt options since early in the season, according to league sources who were given anonymity so that they could speak freely.
Around that time, interim coach Joe Mazzulla was still trying to figure out his team’s center rotation in the absence of Robert Williams. The situation was so unsettled that during the first game of the season, Mazzulla called on Noah Vonleh — later traded in a salary dump — as the first big man off the bench. It took Luke Kornet another week or so to emerge as the Celtics’ usual option behind Williams and Horford.
Cornet has been solid. The Celtics have held opponents to just 105.8 points per 100 possessions during his time on the court, a sparkling defensive efficiency. They don’t necessarily need to target anyone else in that spot. If they are fully healthy throughout the playoffs, minutes will be sparse — maybe even non-existent — behind Horford and Williams. Those guys will start together. Mazzulla can stagger their playing time throughout each game. The team’s third center last season, Daniel Theis, racked up eight DNP-CDs during Boston’s playoff run despite Williams’ injury issues at the time. Theis also had six additional playoff games with fewer than 10 minutes played. Kornet has played like he is capable of handling such a load.
Still, the Celtics know Williams’ injury history and the 36-year-old Horford’s age. If either needs to miss games at the wrong time, Boston’s backup center will become a main character in the team’s playoff run. Theis started five playoff games last season. The Celtics are more willing to play small lineups now but still know the importance of their third big man. That’s why Jakob Poeltl, who The AthleticShams Charania, recently reported as a Boston target, will likely continue to be linked to the Celtics as the trade deadline approaches.
League sources outside the Boston organization downplayed the likelihood of a Poeltl acquisition, pointing out that if the Spurs do deal him, the impending free agent would make more sense somewhere he is a better long-term fit. With Horford and Williams each signed through at least the 2024-25 season, Boston likely has no room to commit to Poeltl as a starter on a big, long-term contract.
Short of adding someone like Poeltl, the Celtics’ front office could still want to give Mazzulla another type of backup big man to use come playoff time. Kornet, for all of his strengths around the rim, isn’t the most versatile defender. Around the league, players such as Mason Plumlee, PJ Washington and Jae’Sean Tate could be available. A couple of those guys aren’t necessarily natural centers but would help the Celtics play a different style than Kornet does. By combining the contracts of Danilo Gallinari and Justin Jackson, the Celtics could absorb upwards of $9 million worth of returning salary in a deal without touching anyone in their current rotation. They also have Payton Pritchard, who has drawn interest as a potential trade chip if the right target emerges.
Still, realistically, the Celtics won’t be giving any backup big man much playing time in the playoffs anyway. If their third big man becomes an important player during the postseason, that means something has gone wrong with either Williams or Horford.
3. Could the Celtics pursue wing depth?
If the Celtics have another need at the back end of their roster, it could be wing depth after Sam Hauser’s difficult stretch over the last couple of months. The 6-foot-8 wing recently received two DNP-CDs — his first of the season — while shooting 28.3 percent from 3-point range in December and 29.0 percent so far in January. He shot 47.9 percent from deep in 22 appearances prior to December.
Still, if they are healthy during the postseason, the Celtics won’t necessarily need anyone in Hauser’s spot. White, Brogdon and Grant Williams will likely soak up all the perimeter bench minutes then — and maybe all the bench minutes entirely. Even if a starter misses time, the Celtics could just shorten their rotation, giving more minutes to those three rather than adding someone else to the mix. If Boston does look to add help on the wing, Jalen McDaniels could make sense, but the Celtics wouldn’t have many playoff minutes, if any, for him. As the deadline approaches, they are in the enviable position of knowing they don’t need much.
(Top photo of Jakob Poeltl: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
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