Five possibilities to watch for with Celtics at trade deadline

There are fewer than 24 hours remaining until the NBA trade deadline on Thursday afternoon and while things have been pretty busy around the league with several deals already going down, the whispers have been very quiet on the Celtics front, outside of the constant Anthony Davis chatter that will remain in place until the All-Star is dealt.

While the Davis subplot will keep the Celtics front office sweating until 3:01 p.m., there are still a lot of other areas to keep an eye on with Boston through tomorrow afternoon and into the upcoming months. With that mind, here's what to watch out for from Boston as the deadline approaches.

1. Will the Celtics be able to dump Jabari Bird with a team?

The Celtics have taken their sweet time on this front, waiting for the legal process to play itself out while playing out the year with 14 roster players as Bird remained away from the team. Bird's career in Boston is over one way or another but Thursday marks the last time the Celtics are guaranteed to get him off their salary books for the 2018-19 season. We've talked for months about the possibility that Bird will be traded with cash and potentially a draft pick to a team with an open roster spot, who could waive the guard immediately and pocket the savings and asset. However, given the seriousness of Bird's legal situation, most teams would be hesitant to take on Bird even with the knowledge that they will be dumping him immediately. That could cause a higher asking price for Boston than a usual salary dump and it's unclear whether or not the Celtics would want to pay that price.

There are alternatives here for Boston as well if the asking price to take on Bird by other teams is too high and Ainge still wants to open up a roster spot. Waiving Bird outright will cost the C's ownership a couple of million dollars in luxury tax penalties (since Bird's contract is guaranteed and will count fully against the cap), so that's less than ideal. Ainge could wait for the legal process to sort itself out with Bird, opening the door for the NBA to void Bird's contract and give the Celtics cap relief. However, that timeline will not line up with the Celtics potential desire to fill in a roster spot with an appealing free agent on the buyout market in the next few weeks.

For Ainge and ownership, the choice may very well between saving some cash (i.e. keeping Bird through legal process) or paying a price with an asset to dump him now to get full use of that roster spot without the added luxury tax penalties. The Celtics would prefer the latter but it's going to take two teams to tango on that front.

2. Will the Celtics make a trade to improve their positioning in the Anthony Davis chase?

I covered this topic in greater depth on Sunday but the question remains firmly in place with the likelihood increasing that Davis will be staying put in New Orleans beyond Thursday. If Al Horford and Gordon Hayward aren’t in the mix to be dealt this summer, the Celtics have very few options to get up to the $21.6 million salary threshold needed to match the Davis salary in a trade. Marcus Smart ($12.7 million) would have to be included in almost any package to make it work and that’s not a good thing for a team that will likely have to include Jayson Tatum and/or Jaylen Brown already to get a deal done. A way to get around this would be adding more salary to the team's current roster for next season by dealing away a mid-salary player like Terry Rozier or Guerschon Yabusele.

So would the Celtics be willing to move Rozier or Yabusele and a future pick to land a bigger salary for next year (to use in a Davis deal) which would still help them remain competitive in the present?

A few names that would fit these criteria:

Yogi Ferrell ($3.1 million in 2019-20)
Skal Labbiserie ($2.2 million)
Jerome Robinson ($3.5 million)
Nene ($3.8 million)
Grayson Allen ($2.4 million)
Zach Collins ($4.2 million)
Denzel Valentine ($3.3 million)
Taurean Prince ($3.4 million)
Luke Kennard ($3.8 million)
Glenn Robinson ($4.1 million; would need to be two players)
Tony Parker ($5 million; would need to be two players)

Will this happen? It’s hard to find the right player that would seemingly make a difference here for the Celtics from an on-court standpoint, as very few of these guys are capable of breaking into the rotation on this team. Still, as the Celtics look to construct hypothetical trade packages for the future, every dollar counts. Having one of these guys could be the difference in having to send out Robert Williams, Semi Ojeleye or an even bigger name as part of the trade package. The odds are against it, but it's something to watch for.

3. Will the Celtics be more motivated to make a move in the wake of the Tobias Harris trade?

Life just got more complicated for Brad Stevens as he finds ways to defend a high-powered Sixers offense with the addition of Harris. However, from a matchup standpoint, there is not much that the Celtics can realistically do to upgrade themselves against Harris. The C's glut of wings in Tatum, Brown, Morris and Hayward will pay dividends in guarding the hybrid forward, while Ojeleye looms large as always as a defensive specialist as well for the postseason. It's unlikely that the Celtics will be able to land any kind of defensive personnel that's better at that position than what those guys can offer. There's also the very real possibility that they won't face off with the Sixers in a head-to-head matchup this year anyway in the postseason if they finish on opposite sides of the playoff bracket.

4. Will the Celtics make a move on the fringes of the roster?

We already covered the salary dump possibility with Bird, but there is certainly a case to be made that the bottom third of the Celtics roster could be upgraded in some form. Yabusele had his contract option for next season picked up already but Danny Ainge could think about filling his inexperience with a more reliable big option for the present in the wake of Aron Baynes foot injury and Robert Williams' constant physical ailments. Boston has also been burned repeatedly by speedy point guards all year long in spots. Brad Wanamaker has held his own quite admirably as a third-string point guard but speed is not his strength at age 29. Bringing aboard a defensive-minded player with NBA experience is a possibility for nights when Terry Rozier and the second unit are having trouble running a good offense or can't keep a point guard under wraps. A few names to keep an eye on in this mold that could be had for cheap or potentially via the buyout market: Shelvin Mack, David Nwaba, Patrick Beverley (would cost a couple of second-round picks at least), Jeremy Lin (only if Hawks buy him out).

5. How Ainge proceeds with Davis negotiations: The Celtics can't trade for him until this summer, but how Ainge proceeds with negotiations ahead of the trade deadline will probably go a long way into determining whether or not Davis stays put. Promises may need to be made to ensure that the Pelicans don't get cold feet and go with a Lakers offer now if Magic Johnson ups the ante with more first-round picks ahead of Thursday's deadline. It's a fine line that Ainge must finesse in the coming days with repercussions that could span for years.

For more on the Celtics heading into the trade deadline, check out the C's trade deadline primer.