With up to 14 players (pending player options) potentially under contract for the Celtics heading into the 2020-21 season, Danny Ainge has a lot of options this offseason as he tries to improve his roster and build the Celtics into a formidable contender.
With such a crowded depth chart at the moment, consolidation is an option Boston’s front office is going to need to explore. There is not going to be enough room for everyone to play regular minutes in a healthy rotation, and there are necessary improvements that need to be made to bolster depth after a disappointing finish in the Eastern Conference Finals.
To sort through it all, let’s take a closer look at the team’s roster in our first edition of the 2020 Celtics trade value power rankings. We’ll count down the list in the next few weeks, starting with the players with the least trade value and working up to top assets on the roster.
Criteria: This isn’t simply ranking the best-to-worst players on the roster. There is significantly more that goes into a player’s trade value around the league than just talent (although that’s important). A player’s age, contract situation and injury history are all vital factors. Multiple scouts from around the league were consulted as this list was put together.
14. Vincent Poirier
Age: 26
Remaining contract: One year, $2.6 million
2019-20 stats: 1.9 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.4 apg, (22 games)
Overview: The Celtics tried to give themselves a variety of options at center last offseason after losing Al Horford and Aron Baynes via free agency and trade. Poirier was viewed as one of four potential solutions at the position amid an emerging overseas career. While some overseas transplants have hit big for Boston (Daniel Theis) in recent years, Poirier probably looks like the biggest bust on this front since Vitor Faverani. To be fair, he never got much of a chance with the success of Theis and Kanter ahead of him, but he looked like a borderline NBA player at best after year one. The Celtics had to give him two guaranteed years of money at more than the league minimum to convince him to come to Boston, and that looks like an overpay now after he spent most of 2019-20 on the bench.
For a team that lacks many roster spots and is looking to contend now, the C’s simply don’t have room for Poirier next year in all likelihood. The problem is that his $2.6-million salary is guaranteed and there won’t be any teams looking to take a flier on him at that price. For Boston, his best value this offseason may be simply as an expiring contract to package to build up salary with other players in a multi-player deal. If the C’s want to simply dump him somewhere, they are probably going to have to include a sweetener (another player or a second-round pick) to get a team to take him. Whether or not the Celtics will do that or simply waive him to eat his cost (and luxury tax penalties) is a question Celtics ownership will have to weigh in on. Poirier was a low-risk miss for the front office but his stay in Boston is likely over.
What could the Celtics get for him? Nothing. C’s will likely need to include an asset to move him.
13. Javonte Green
Age: 27
Remaining contract: One year, $1.5 million (non-guaranteed)
2019-20 stats: 3.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 0.5 apg, 9.8 mpg (48 games)
Overview: The rookie was a fantastic story this year, earning a roster spot after a fantastic summer league performance in Vegas and a strong training camp with the C’s. He had some meaningful contributions for Boston early in the season when injuries were scattered throughout the rotation before his limitations (27 percent from 3) became more apparent as the season continued. A knee injury in the Sixers series that resulted in surgery took away any chance he had of contributing in the postseason, which was unfortunate since his attacking ability would have come in handy against a zone in spot minutes here or there when others faltered. His athleticism is a great weapon for an end of the roster depth piece.
It looks like there is a place for Green in the NBA but he’s still going to have to fight for his roster spot in Boston or elsewhere next year, and the odds are there won’t be room with him for Boston. He doesn’t have any trade value but his non-guaranteed salary could come be useful for Boston as salary filler in a bigger trade this offseason. No team is going to give Boston anything of value for him since they know Green could easily be cut loose later this offseason due to the C’s roster crunch. Until then, I’d expect C’s to keep him around as a potential trade piece. If not, he will get a chance to stick around in year two against a lot of competition in camp.
What could the Celtics get for him? Nothing of value.
12. Carsen Edwards
Age: 21
Remaining contract: Three years, $5.2 million (third year is team option)
2019-20 stats: 3.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.6 apg, 9.6 mpg, 32.8% FG, 31.6% 3pt (37 games)
Overview: The Celtics hoped the second-round pick and summer league phenom would be a sharpshooting weapon off the bench this year but Edwards’ dynamic play at Purdue just didn’t translate in year one. He struggled mightily with efficiency in the paint and on the perimeter despite starting the season in Brad Stevens’ rotation, and he was constantly abused on the defensive end due to his size. The Celtics let him play through those growing pains at first but he fell out of the rotation by December, leaving him to G-League duty during much of the second half of the year.
Edwards is far from a lost cause at this point as plenty of Celtics have struggled in year one but managed to make the improvements necessary to fight their way back into the rotation during their sophomore season (Terry Rozier comes to mind). However, that’s going to be tough for Edwards to do on a team that is contending right now instead of building for the future. Edwards doesn’t have an expensive deal but he does have two more guaranteed years on it for a player who hasn’t yet proven he belongs in the league. The Celtics still think highly of him internally, but around the league his deal is a slight net negative or neutral at the moment. There’s potential upside for Edwards obviously if he turns things around due to being under cheap team control for three more years but Edwards has to prove that upside is there first. He will have to earn his roster spot in camp next season despite his guaranteed salary, and there’s a decent chance he is traded before then if C’s can upgrade his roster spot.
What can the Celtics get for him? Nothing of value.
11. Enes Kanter
Age: 27
Remaining contract: One year, $5.0 million (player option)
2019-20 stats: 8.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 16.9 mpg, 57.2% FG, (58 games)
Overview: There’s a small chance that Kanter doesn’t even belong on this list since he could simply opt out of his player option for next season, but limited cap space for teams and a crowded free-agent market makes that unlikely. Kanter didn’t have a bad year by any means as he nearly matched his career-high in FG percentage and posted the best offensive rebounding rate of his career. The Celtics managed to hide him enough defensively in bench units in the first half of the year to maximize him in short stints, but eventually, he started regressing as a hip injury slowed him down in the second half of the season.
He provided a crucial big body to battle Joel Embiid in Round 1, but for the rest of the postseason the Celtics were far better off with backup center minutes going to Rob Williams or Grant Williams due to Kanter’s defensive limitations. He couldn’t be trusted in most postseason spots still, and that limits his value on the trade market, especially with so many free-agent centers available this summer that will likely be at a salary below $5 million a season.
What the Celtics elect to do with Kanter this offseason remains to be seen. He’s not a bad contract by any means, but they aren’t going to get anything of notable value for him beyond a second-round pick or another flawed player for him straight up. However, he still provides useful salary for Boston ($5 million) in any scenario where they want to package him and other young talent/draft picks to land a bench upgrade for next season. Given the promise that Rob Williams and Grant Williams showed at times in the postseason, I’d say Kanter is one of the likelier trade candidates on the C’s this offseason.
What can the Celtics get for him? Maybe a second-round pick.
NBA News and Notes
—The decision by Sixers brass to hire Doc Rivers following his dismissal from the Clippers this past week makes the Atlantic Division arguably the most star-studded group of coaches in the league with Rivers joining Coach of the Year Nick Nurse, Steve Nash, Brad Stevens and newly hired Tom Thibodeau. Rivers isn’t exactly an inspiring choice for Philly after failing to navigate the Clippers out of the second round in seven seasons despite high expectations. However, the type of cache he brings as a respected former player and coach is something the stars on this team needs. Embiid is as talented as any player in the NBA but his lack of discipline and conditioning has limited his postseason value to this point in the NBA. Given the lack of appealing options to revamp this team due to unfavorable contracts, getting the best out of Embiid and Ben Simmons is probably the best path back towards contention. There’s no guarantee that Rivers can do that but he has a better chance to do than a rookie coach would have on a respect level. It may now be enough to swing Philly’s fortunes given their mismatched roster but it will be an intriguing roll of a dice for a coach looking to rehab his reputation after an ugly finish in LA.
—Speaking of Philly, there are rumors out of Sacramento that sharpshooting guard Buddy Hield wants out, with the Sixers being a logical destination. The problem? Al Horford or Tobias Harris are the only players that make any sense to swap for the Sixers and both have worse deals than Hield. With the tightening finances for several teams around the league in the wake of the pandemic, the Sixers are going to add more assets to any deal to rid themselves of Horford or Harris.
—With the NBA season not expected to start next year until January at the earliest, Adam Silver poured cold water on the possibility of NBA players taking part in the Olympics next summer (if they aren’t postponed). “I think it’s unlikely, at the end of the day, that, if we start late, we would stop for the Olympics,” Silver said. “Because, as you know, it’s not just a function of stopping for the period in which they are competing over in Tokyo. But they require training camp, and then they require rest afterwards.”
—With Rivers taking the Sixers job, the remaining open head coaching positions around the league include Indiana, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, Houston and LA Clippers. Look for Ty Lue to nab one of those positions soon in LA or New Orleans. However, Mike D’Antoni might be out of luck after being passed over by Rivers for the Sixers job.