How should the Boston Celtics approach the trading date?

Questions about the Celtics are getting louder and louder as the NBA trade deadline approaches, and with less than a week to go, Boston’s struggle on the court is only making matters worse. difficult for basketball action president Danny Ainge.

So, sitting at 20-20, should the Celtics be buyers or sellers at the date of the trade? It’s a popular debate right now, but the Celtics aren’t of course going to be vendors (a team willing to move basic pieces). Whether that’s the wise approach or not, it won’t happen.

First, let’s be clear: Tristan Thompson’s trade, for example, is not what I mean when I say sale. That is a move that Boston could make in the next six days, and it would be very quick at that. A true retailer, however, is willing to move key players for future funding, and those Celtics won’t do it a week from now. They don’t move Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, or even Robert Williams at the date. With two All-Stars at the top of the roster, Ainge will not be fielding left-right players coming on March 25th. With all that said, getting into the date as buyers seems to be a rather attractive option as well. The Celtics have to pick a side, but none of them are very attractive right now.

The Celtics aren’t controversial this season, and nothing they do next week will make them one. It’s a short-lived gloomy scene, but for now, it’s definitely true. In his weekly view Thursday morning on Toucher and Rich at 98.5, Ainge said the Celtics have no solution and very good team qualities. He’s right, and Wednesday’s loss to the 15-25 Cavaliers was a prime example. Boston came out of the gates in Cleveland with a lack of effort and intense attention, something this team has become accustomed to facing less talented opponents.

It was almost as if the Celtics were walking into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and fully expecting the Cavaliers to just lie down. On NBC Sports Boston after the loss, Kendrick Perkins said it felt like they had a sense of entitlement. That may sound a little harsh, but there is no doubt that lack of motivation is difficult with this team. The Boston roster is badly built, and we’ve discussed that several times, but that can be true as long as a group is still motionless. I would say the two are connected. Tatum and Brown are smart basketball minds, and they certainly understand that this roster, as it currently stands, cannot compete with the top of the Eastern Conference. It’s quite possible that roster manpower issues are leading to the kind of energy we saw in the first half of Wednesday. That’s not an excuse, and the players would be the first to tell you that, but I have a hard time seeing past a relationship there. If anything, it is more reasonable to make a move before the deadline.

This team needs help. Semi Ojeleye has played a total of 38 minutes in the last two games and has scored five points on four hits. Ainge has to make a move at the date to get some reinforcement on this roster. Again, nothing they do at this trading date will make them become competitors, but there are moves that will help the team nonetheless, both in the short and long term. time. Sitting on your hands as a head office will be of no use at this stage.

Take Harrison Barnes as an example. It still makes a ton of sense for the Celtics as a trade target by adding a hunting shield with defensive size and flexibility, even if it doesn’t push them to the maximum. Buying Barnes doesn’t come cheap though. The sellers market is limited, which raises costs and at the same time reduces the number of trades. Despite these obstacles, Barnes is in the presence of veterans who will help the Celtics for the rest of the season and into the future, both as a court addition and as a bigger contract, which can be exchanged. That move would, of course, include a $ 28.5 million trading exception in Boston, an asset that Ange has been saving for the offseason.

If the price for Barnes is too high and the rest of the market produces an unattractive product, there is value in being (light) sellers. As I said before, I don’t see any situation where this team is wholesale, but researching the market for Thompson, or even Jeff Teague and Semi Ojeleye, makes a lot of sense. There will be no need to play Teague rotation minutes for the rest of the season if the inevitable result is No. 6 seeds and leaving the first round. Trying to get any funds back could be for some of your veterans, while at the same time allowing Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford and other young players a meaningful playing time. get to create valuable development opportunities. No, Ainge won’t be able to get much of anything back, but it would be nice to force Stevens’ hand into more careers for younger players. That kind of situation is not a quick fix, but it did pay benefits to the organization.

If he can’t get a Boston Barnes or a comparable player, he has to try to mobilize back-end veterans in an effort to improve his young players. Do I think that is what the front office will do? I wouldn’t expect a couple of small moves that involve a player like Garrett Temple – a short-term solution at the wing on a very cheap contract. From there, you ride out the rest of the season and then deal with the potential changes in the summer.

There is no easy answer here, and the limited market only makes that worse. The latter scenario isn’t terribly bad, but it does set the Celtics in for a possible summer shake-up. As of right now, Boston’s top group cannot compete with the Eastern Conference elite, and at some point, the front office needs to make a bigger change. That won’t happen next week, but the trade-off date could tell Boston’s approach to the offseason.