The NBA trade deadline is 3 p.m. on February 5, three weeks and one day from now. The Celtics continue to be mentioned in every rumor involving a big man, no matter how realistic these scenarios may be.
This is very much like what the Celtics faced a few years ago, when the Celtics were presumed to have interest in every star player, with Jaylen Brown and future picks as the centerpiece of every purported rumor.
But just like then, not all rumors are built the same. I think there are strong distinctions between “interest,” “discussions,” and “offers.” I have interest in buying myself an Aston Martin, but I haven't been in discussions to buy one. I’ve had interest in buying myself a Rolex and asked about a price, which means I’ve had discussions.
Those stories tend to omit the “was laughed out of the store” part, or the part where someone asked, “Who even let that guy in?”
And so with these trade rumors, we always have to take a deeper look at what’s being said and how realistic they are.
JAREN JACKSON, JR.
From a pure basketball fit, Jackson would be a fantastic fit with the Celtics. He’s 26, a former Defensive Player of the Year who protects the rim at an elite level, and a league-average 3-point shooter over the past two seasons. Put him on the floor with Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Derrick White and you have one of the most ridiculous defensive groups in NBA history.
As Matt Moore reported, “The Boston Celtics would love to add Jaren Jackson Jr. There is no team I’ve heard with more interest for Jackson.”
That has been aggregated everywhere without the very next line Matt wrote: “The problem, of course, is what kind of deal that looks like.”
That, indeed, is a problem. Financially, Anfernee Simons and Sam Hauser create a legal trade, so the Celtics can, indeed, put together the framework of a deal that works. There are plenty of three-team scenarios that could make some sense, but the Celtics would become incredibly expensive in the aftermath of a potential trade.
They would pay Tatum, Brown, Jackson, and White a combined $195 million. That leaves less than $30 million between those four players and the second apron, so getting Jackson would certainly put Boston back over. They would still be paying the repeater tax, so the roster would go back to costing about half a billion dollars. Their draft pick would move to the bottom of the draft, which is where it would probably be anyway, considering how good they’d be, but they would be prohibited from making most other moves.
That would put the Celtics back in a position to offload salary like they did last season. Maybe the Celtics would turn around and start flipping pieces if this move led to another championship, which no one would care about at that point, but it also means they had better win a championship if they figure out how to do this AND keep Brown and Tatum together.
It’s all possible, but how probable is it? I’m going to say not very.
DANIEL GAFFORD
