Karalis: Lonzo Ball could be an intriguing trade target for Danny Ainge

It's a bright, beautiful day in Boston. It's officially shorts and hoodie weather (or drive with the windows down and the heat on weather). It's a great day to go for a long walk, dust off the bike...

Or sit indoors and conjure up ways to do Danny Ainge's job for him.

There's seemingly a new name floated every day, and some are more plausible than others (sorry, no LaMarcus Aldridge). One that's come up here and there recently is New Orleans Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball.

Let's start with this: He's not a perfect fit. He's not exactly what the Boston Celtics need, but he can tick enough boxes, short-term and long-term, that he might be a very valuable target.

In the short term, the Celtics would get themselves a versatile wing defender. He's 6'6" with a plus wingspan. He's quick and smart, and he can instantly be thrown in to the Celtics mix and pick up what they're trying to do.

"I think Lonzo’s got great instincts for playing great defense,” Eric Bledsoe recently said. “Me watching from the outside, he definitely has a knack to play. He’s got great feet. He’s got the length to defend."

Defense leads to offense, and one thing the Celtics lack this year is transition opportunities. They are 22nd in the NBA in pace, so they're one of the slowest teams in the league. They're 14th in opponents turnover percentage and 11th in steals, which leads to Boston being 19th in fastbreak points. Adding a player like Ball in the short-term can help boost those numbers, get the Celtics out in transition.

Imagine Jaylen Brown, in a game like he had last night, getting two or three more transition opportunities versus two or three shots in a halfcourt offense.

The Celtics also lack ball movement in their halfcourt sets. They are dead-last in secondary assists (or "hockey assists," the past that leads to an assist). They are second-to-last in potential assists, or passes that would have been assists had the shots fallen. And they are third-to-last in points created by assists.

They need a ball-mover.

"It’s not the way that I necessarily would want to play," Brad Stevens  said last month. "(Cutting has) not been a strength of ours either. And so I think we do need time to work on it. At the same time, we’re going to have to force some of it."

Ball could really help in that regard as well. Though he is not necessarily a cutter himself, he can find them, and adding him to the halfcourt offense means there's a very willing passer on a team full of very willing scorers. Halfcourt offense is not Ball's top strength, but if the Celtics can emphasize more movement and cutting with the promise of Ball's passing can be pretty encouraging.

Add to this Stevens' top strength as a coach, maximizing a player's value, and Ball in Boston could be one of his better chances to find his true potential.

Rather than being shoehorned into an offense as a lead guard, he can play off the ball and shift Jayson Tatum and Brown down a spot and play with Kemba Walker and a center. That frees Marcus Smart to be the backup point guard and, potentially, the lead of a closing defensive lineup with Ball, Tatum, and Brown.

Aside from what he could bring on the court, there are two business reasons why Ball could be an attractive target.

First, there's a chance he can be acquired without touching the $28.5 million traded player exception. He makes $11 million, a salary that's match-able with some two-player combination of Aaron Nesmith, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams. If any two of those players are attractive to the Pelicans, the salaries will match because Boston, as a non-taxpayer, is allowed to acquire the amount of the outgoing salaries plus $5 million in a deal for someone in Ball's salary range. The Celtics could send the most attractive of those players along with Tristan Thompson with the selling point that Thompson's $9.7 million salary next season could be the basis for New Orleans to swing another deal.

Of course, none of this takes what the Pelicans really want into consideration, and that's obviously half the battle. The point of this is to say it can be done this way, and it would be preferable if Ainge can convince Pel's boss David Griffin to do it this way. A draft pick or two would also be necessary.

The second reason why this could be an attractive play is that it doesn't jeopardize the long-term plan. In fact, if Stevens can work the same magic with Ball that he worked with guys like Evan Turner, then Ainge could have a valuable trade asset for a bigger fish (cough, cough, Bradley Beal) down the road.

Ball is a restricted free agent after this season. The crux of this entire plan depends on what Ball's future contract will be. The risk in Boston is that they figure out how to use him and he plays so well that teams flush with cash overpay Ball thinking he's on the cusp of reaching All-Star potential. Boston may still choose to pay him anyway, just to keep that value in house for a future trade.

A suddenly hot Lonzo Ball as the centerpiece of a future blockbuster could be the type of scenario Ainge is looking for. It's a risky proposition and there's probably just as strong a chance that it goes wrong as there is it goes right. But considering Ball ticks off so many potential boxes, including the financial and future asset categories, he could be a late candidate to become a Boston Celtic.