With a little more than three weeks to go until the NBA trade deadline (February 10, 3 p.m.) and the worst (we think) of the NBA’s Health and Safety avalanche behind us, front offices can get back to the business of buying and selling.
This includes the Celtics who are playing both sides over the next few weeks. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics are testing the market on just about everyone except Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and to a lesser degree, Robert Williams.
“I think the hard part for Boston is what are the other tradeable assets that they're willing to move on from,” He said on ESPN’s NBA Today. “I think Marcus Smart, some of the young players on the roster, the second- or third-year guards and forwards, I think they are seeing what the value for those players is out there.”
Josh Richardson and Dennis Schröder are also among those whose value is being tested.
“I think those are all players available in the marketplace. Can that get them involved in a Ben Simmons, no it can’t,” Wojnarowski said. “But I think they still want to find, I think, another playmaker, wing player to complement the two All-Star forwards.”
This may sound like big news, but the reality of it is that everyone in charge is constantly gauging the value of players on the trade market. The Celtics have been pretty clear about their stance as well: Tatum and Brown are untouchable, and everyone else to some degree, can be discussed.
That means rumors galore and social media accounts ablaze with “who says no” trade proposals. A player will have to go full Neo dodging bullets in the Matrix to somehow avoid hearing his name in rumors.
“A lot of them have been around and it's part of the deal. You gotta stay focused on what you can control,” Ime Udoka said. “90-95 percent of the stuff that you hear doesn't happen and I think a lot of our guys, being some veteran guys, have probably heard their names before. So it's nothing new as far as that. We're focused on what we're doing here and trying to improve and run off some games and get consistent and worry about that stuff you can control and not rumors going on.”
That's easier said than done.
“(Brad Stevens’) phone is ringing off the hook and vice versa,” Udoka said after the team’s practice Tuesday afternoon. “He took probably 10 phone calls after our game last night.”
Stevens and Udoka talk, but there's also a distance to be kept. Udoka is trying to coax some consistent play out of his team and Stevens is trying to coax some helpful players out of these potential trade talks, but there are limits.
“You're not going to obviously talk about everything that teams talk about,” Udoka said. “Anything that's starting to possibly have an impact, obviously, we'll talk about it and run through some things and where we're at overall and what we'd like to improve on. And so those are the discussions we have daily.”
Talks will surely intensify over the coming weeks. The Celtics are not only trying to improve, they're also working to get under a luxury tax line, which could involve some straight “seller” type trades without taking anything back in return.
So Boston will pop up in a lot more rumors over the next three weeks. It’s possible some of the names mentioned will rise from “gauging interest” to “actively shopping.” It’s also very possible some will drop to “no meaningful discussions.”
We’re in silly season where everyone speaking to the media has an agenda, so prepare for things to get wild between now and February 10.
BACK TO PRACTICE
In the meantime, the Celtics were able to get back onto the practice floor for the first time in quite a while. Even the coach couldn't immediately remember the last full practice the team had.
“I wanna say, practice, maybe one after the Phoenix game,” he said. Team practices and gatherings were severely limited during the height of their COVID outbreak. “That's when they let us back in initially, and then from there, the games have been going on, obviously. Had some three-in- four-days and back-to-backs with travel days. So haven't had a lot of time honestly, just a lot of individual sessions, individual work.”
The team was still without Smart (Health and Safety Protocols, officially listed as "questionable" for tomorrow) and Robert Williams (birth of a son … welcome Hendrix Rome Williams), but they managed to get some preparation in for an important game against Charlotte.
“Good to get a head start on that,” Udoka said. “Good to get a group out here, get some guys, some extra minute guys, some run and, like I said, touch on some Charlotte specifics.”
This game against the Hornets can be a big one for multiple reasons. First, Charlotte is a game-and-a-half ahead, so a win can put them nearly even. Second, with games against Portland, Washington, and Sacramento ahead on the schedule, beating Charlotte could help put a significant win streak together.
“I think if we are able to have a good stretch, we can be in a much better position than we are right now,” Al Horford said. “I think the key for us, we have a great opportunity here at home, starting tomorrow against Charlotte to see how much ground we can gain because I feel like it's up for grabs.”
NESMITH SITS OUT
Aaron Nesmith also missed practice today.
“He rolled his ankle last night in the game with about five, six minutes left,” Udoka said. “He finished the game but it's pretty swollen. We’ll monitor him, see how he is tomorrow.”
The timing of it could hardly be worse for Nesmith, whose opportunities have been less than frequent. At one point early in the game it felt like he was on his way to another rough one, but he turned it around very nicely in the second half.
“We honestly look at who we want to give a stint to and give them a consistent run and Aaron's in that phase right now,” Udoka said. “Unfortunately, he rolled his ankle, hopefully he's good to go tomorrow. But the energy and intensity and stuff that he brings naturally I talked about last night, he's gonna bring that every night. The shot making and defense, that's an added bonus, but we know he's gonna bring one thing and that's a spark to us. And at times we're lacking that, that's what we're looking for in the Indiana game and last night he brought it.”
RETURN OF GORDON HAYWARD
Tomorrow night will be the first night Hayward will play in Boston as a former Celtic. The crowd might get on him, but his former teammate Al Horford will be happy to see him.
“My biggest thing for him is, I was very encouraged by the way he was able to bounce back from the injury,” Horford said. “Sometimes when injuries happen you don’t know how they’re going to be, how their game is going to change, and Gordon has been able to work to get to a point where he can still be a really, really good player. He showed it his last year here, and now in Charlotte he’s been having a really good year. So I’ve just been impressed with how he’s handled adversity. He didn’t let that get him down, and now he’s put in the work and he’s in a really good place right now.”
Hayward is averaging 17.3 points, 3.7 assists, and 4.7 rebounds this season. He has only missed one game so far.