Examining 5 potential buyout options for the Celtics

The Celtics stood pat at the trade deadline on Thursday afternoon, but that doesn’t mean they are done making moves to the roster. A league source indicated to BostonSportsJournal.com that Danny Ainge will be active in what should be a busy buyout market in the coming days to add another potential scoring weapon to the team’s bench. The Celtics will only have the veteran's minimum to offer free agents (since they used the disabled player exception on Greg Monroe), but the opportunity exists within Boston's bench unit for another shooter/scorer. Here’s a breakdown at some of the more noteworthy names that could be free agents in the matter of days:

Top target

Joe Johnson: The former Celtic was sent to the Kings in a three-way deal on deadline day. He makes $10.5 million this year and the tanking Kings will happily let them out of that deal to save a few bucks for themselves. His size at 6-foot-7 and shooting (37 percent career from 3-point range) makes him an ideal shot creator off the bench for any contender. The Celtics will have heavy competition for him from playoff teams in both conferences. They also went after him a couple years ago and came up empty (he signed with the Heat). This time around? They can offer him a meaningful role as a bench contributor.

Potential consolation prices

Marco Belinelli: One of my favorite potential trade deadline targets didn’t end up fetching anything worthwhile for the Hawks on Thursday. Now, he’s a sharpshooting veteran playing for a team where he has no real future. The bet here is that Belinelli gets bought out in the coming days and looks to join a playoff team off the bench. He isn’t much of a shot creator anymore and his defense is certainly questionable, but the 31-year-old can help spread the floor (37 percent 3-point shooting) and has played well in the postseason recently (San Antonio in 2015).

Vince Carter: One of the oldest players in the NBA is actually having a productive year with the Kings. However, he’s on an expiring contract and likely will be looking for a chance to play in the postseason during one of the last years of his career. He’s played meaningful minutes for Memphis in the playoffs over the last couple years and shoots well enough now (37 percent from 3-point range) to be an attractive end of the bench option for some playoff team this year. If other options fall through for the C’s, Ainge could look at Carter.

Shabazz Muhammad: The 25-year-old wing has reportedly been asking out of Minnesota for a few days now after falling out of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation. The Celtics have also been tied to him in recent years as a potential trade target. It might be hard to convince him to come to Boston, seeing as he won’t be guaranteed any playing time here. However, he’s a high volume scorer (18.6 points per 36 minutes in his career) which could be intriguing as a change of pace player in Brad Stevens’ system. Look for him to be a last resort type option, but one to keep an eye on.

Tony Allen: The Bulls released Allen last week after he was traded from the Pelicans and he is still injured for now. If the Celtics traded away Marcus Smart, Allen would be an interesting idea as a wing defender. However, there is no room for him on this squad given the backcourt depth and need for offense.