The NBA trade deadline is this Thursday at 3 p.m. The Celtics have been mentioned in a few rumors, but they are limited in what they can do. Here’s a look at some of those rumors and the reality of what Boston can do.
KELLY OLYNYK
HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reports the Celtics have expressed interest in Olynyk. He’d be an upgrade as a third big, an immediate part of the rotation, and great injury insurance for Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.
Except …
He makes $12.2 million, and there's little chance they'll get him in a trade without including Horford. And no, Boston can’t trade five guys for Olynyk, even though it works in whichever trade machine you use, for a variety of reasons.
1. The other team has to have enough open roster spots to bring in however many players are being traded. Stacking up five players for one means they have to have four open spots and teams aren’t allowed to have more than two. So Utah would have to waive two guys before the deal in order to make it happen.
2. Utah would have to actually WANT the incoming players. Maybe they won’t care if the Celtics attach enough draft capital, but you know how Danny Ainge is. He wants the world, and Brad Stevens isn’t going to go crazy and mortgage the future.
3. Boston would need to bring in at least three players to field a legal roster. A five-for-one would put Boston at 10 players. They need at least 13. Some might argue that JD Davison and Neemias Queta can be two of those guys, but I’m not really ready to pin this team’s championship hopes on those two guys, Olynyk, and Sam Hauser as the main bench unit.
It’s not impossible. These things could happen, but it’s unlikely. And how many times have you ever seen a championship-caliber team make this disruptive a move in the middle of the season for essentially a third big/seventh man?
I like Kelly Olynyk and he’s an upgrade over Luke Kornet, but is he worth all this mayhem. It’s possible he could get bought out, and because he makes less than the midlevel exception, he could be a candidate to come to Boston that way, but there are a lot of hoops to jump through to get him via trade.
ANDRE DRUMMOND
Scotto also reports Boston’s interest in Drummond, who is also drawing interest from the Lakers, Suns, and Mavs.
This one is doable either with two non-rotation players or the TPE and some draft capital. The issue is that he’s playing well enough to draw interest from multiple teams. When that happens, the rules of supply and demand kick in and the cost goes up.
Will it exit Boston’s price range? And would he be happy in his role here in Boston. Remember, Stevens is on record as saying that if Boston makes a deal, that guy would have to be fine with not playing some games. Do we think Joe Mazzulla is going to consistently play a guy he started intentionally putting on the line when he wanted to build a lead? Do we think Mazzulla is going to feel good about that guy getting meaningful playoff run?
Drummond is probably the most attainable name showing up in rumors, but even he has question marks.
DELON WRIGHT
He makes $8.2 million, so he has be acquired either in a player-for-player trade or after a buyout.
Could he bring some value as a shooter? Sure. Giving up Payton Pritchard plus someone else to get there? It depends on how much Mazzulla values Pritchard.
JAE’SEAN TATE
The Athletic reports Boston and Phoenix are showing interest in Tate,and he is moveable.
Before the season, he was identified as a key piece to the Rockets future, so I question how moveable he really is. He’s a 6’5” forward with a 6’8” wing span who can guard multiple positions, but he’s shooting 29% from deep this season and 30.5% for his career.
Boston already has versatile defenders who can’t shoot and they make less than $6.5 million per year, so color me skeptical about their interest in adding Tate. Further, his salary doesn’t fit into the $6.2 million traded player exception, so they’d have to start adding up salaries to make that happen, starting with Pritchard.
Pritchard is the only non-minimum salary outside of the top six, so any deal that stacks salaries would have to include him. Pritchard and Oshae Brissett get a legal trade done, but I can’t wrap my head around why.