- Kings forwards Harrison Barnes and Nemanja Bjelica are both expected to receive interest from potential trade partners, with the Sixers, Heat, Warriors, Bucks, and Celtics among the clubs to display interest in Bjelica, per Charania.
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Pistons forward Jerami Grant is among the Celtics‘ top trade targets, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic. According to Charania, the C’s and the Hornets are also among the teams interested in Magic center Nikola Vucevic.
It comes as no surprise that Grant and Vucevic would appeal to Boston. Grant has enjoyed a career year in Detroit so far, boosting his scoring average to 23.4 PPG in an expanded offensive role. Vucevic is playing the best basketball of his career too, averaging 24.6 PPG and 11.6 RPG on .483/.412/.851 shooting and earning his second All-Star berth for Orlando.
Both players also have salaries that would fit into the Celtics’ $28.5MM trade exception. Grant is earning $19MM, while Vucevic has a $26MM cap hit.
However, the odds of the Celtics actually acquiring either player before this year’s deadline seem slim, for multiple reasons. For one, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been averse to making major moves at the deadline over the years — since acquiring Isaiah Thomas at the 2015 deadline, his lone in-season trade has been a salary-dump of Jabari Bird in 2019.
Additionally, while the Pistons and Magic are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, Grant and Vucevic are under contract for multiple years and appear to be cornerstone pieces for their respective teams.
Grant, who joined the Pistons in part because he wanted to play for a Black head coach and a Black GM, was the team’s top target in the offseason. According to James Edwards III of The Athletic, Detroit appears to have no interest in moving the 26-year-old, despite receiving interest and trade offers from several teams. Grant “embodies everything Detroit wants its culture to be about,” according to Edwards, who says the forward seems likely to stick with the team for as long as he wants to.
As for Vucevic, Charania says that rival teams believe any trade involving the big man would have to feature a “massive” return for the Magic. Vucevic also told Charania that there’s “something special” about being with the same franchise for a long and building a legacy there, which suggests he has no plans to ask the Magic to move him anytime soon.
If the Celtics do attempt to push for either player, they could offer an appealing combination of draft picks, salary relief, and prospects with upside, though they don’t have an up-and-coming young player who would be the obvious headliner of such a package.
After falling two games below .500 last Wednesday, the Celtics have turned things around in the last week. Boston won its third straight game on Tuesday night, as an impressive victory over the Clippers put the team back over .500 and into the No. 4 seed in the East.
Still, an 18-17 record represents an underwhelming first half for a team that was widely viewed as one of the top threats to come out of the East entering the season. In his attempt to determine what’s gone wrong with the Celtics, Tim Bontemps of ESPN spoke to executives who pointed to Kemba Walker‘s slow start as one factor the club has struggled to overcome.
“He can still provide value,” one Western Conference executive said of the Celtics’ point guard. “But is he worth $35 million? Is he worth that number? That’s tough (to build around) if he isn’t.”
The general consensus among Bontemps’ sources is that the Celtics will need to make some sort of trade before the deadline if they want to have a legit chance to make a deep playoff run this spring. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been reluctant to make in-season trades in the past, with one Western executive suggesting the C’s will only make a move “if they think they’re going to bury you.” However, given how well Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have played, the time looks right for Boston to try to upgrade its roster and get its rising young stars some help.
“There comes a time where you have to do something to keep your stars placated and show that you’re trying, especially when they’re young and early in their primes,” one East executive told Bontemps. “You have to make that commitment to them.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- With Ainge facing some criticism for the Celtics‘ up-and-down season and the team’s lack of depth, Zach Kram of The Ringer takes a closer look at the veteran executive’s résumé to determine whether or not the bad moves have outweighed the good ones over the last decade.
- Even without Derrick Rose and Elfrid Payton available on Tuesday, veteran guard Austin Rivers couldn’t crack the Knicks‘ rotation, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. After not being on New York’s bench at all on Saturday, Rivers has been there for the team’s last two contests, but he hasn’t actually gotten onto the court since he played a couple garbage-time minutes on February 13. He’s a candidate to be moved at the trade deadline.
- While the Raptors‘ greatest need may be at center, the team could very well explore the market for wings and/or forwards this month as well. With that in mind, Blake Murphy of The Athletic considers some possible targets for Toronto, including Thaddeus Young, P.J. Tucker, and James Ennis.
Anfernee Simons of the Trail Blazers, Cassius Stanley of the Pacers, and Obi Toppin of the Knicks will compete for the annual Slam Dunk title at halftime of the All-Star game on Sunday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, the NBA announced in a press release.
Simons, a 6’3” guard, is averaging 8.2 PPG in his third NBA season. Stanley is a 6’5″ rookie guard on a two-way contract after being selected in the second round last fall. He recorded a maximum vertical leap of 44 inches in the 2020 draft combine. Toppin, a 6’9″ rookie forward and lottery pick, is averaging 4.6 PPG in 25 games off the bench.
The 3-Point Contest, which will be held prior to the game, has a lot more star power. Suns guard Devin Booker and Warriors guard Stephen Curry, former winners of the long-ball contest, head the list of participants. The Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Bulls’ Zach LaVine and the Jazz‘s Donovan Mitchell round out the six-man field.
The Skills Challenge, which will also be held prior to the game, also has plenty of All-Star firepower. Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Suns guard Chris Paul head that six-man list. Knicks forward Julius Randle, Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis, Magic center Nikola Vucevic and Trail Blazers forward Robert Covington round out the field.
- Marcus Smart is “getting a lot closer” to returning to action, according to Celtics coach Brad Stevens. Mark Murphy of the Boston Globe tweets that Smart will benefit from additional team practice time after the All-Star break. Smart has been out since January 30 due to a Grade 1 left calf strain.
- Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards, Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown, and Hornets forward Miles Bridges are among the players who have turned down invitations to participate in the 2021 slam dunk contest, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Pelicans star Zion Williamson also passed on the event, Haynes adds (via Twitter). The NBA will officially announce the participants for this year’s dunk contest, skills challenge, and 3-point contest tonight.
- In addition to being promoted to the All-Star starting lineup as a result of Kevin Durant‘s injury, Celtics forward Jayson Tatum expects to participate in either the skills challenge or the 3-point contest prior to the All-Star Game next Sunday, but he won’t do both, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
Tonight’s game between the Bulls and Raptors has been postponed, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. The decision was made because Toronto doesn’t have the league minimum of eight players available due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing (Twitter link).
The Raptors are dealing with a virus outbreak that affected Pascal Siakam and most of their coaching staff for Friday’s game. At least one coach reportedly tested positive, while the rest are in quarantine. Siakam, who reportedly returned an inconclusive rapid test on Friday, is expected to be out of action through the All-Star break, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Toronto has two games remaining before the break, and both may be in jeopardy considering the league’s policy of being cautious amid coronavirus outbreaks. The Raptors are scheduled to host the Pistons on Tuesday and the Celtics on Thursday.
The Bulls shouldn’t be affected, as they just arrived in Florida on Saturday, tweets K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports. They will return home for Monday’s game against the Nuggets. It remains to be seen if today’s news will have any effect on the Rockets, Toronto’s opponent on Friday, who are scheduled to face the Grizzlies tonight.
The Raptors had been one of just four teams without a postponement during the first half of the season, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. The only remaining unaffected teams are the Lakers, Clippers, and Nets.
Tonight’s game is the 34th to be postponed since the season began, and the 30th caused by the virus. Three others were due to harsh weather in Texas last week and one was a scheduling choice to accommodate a makeup game. You can see the complete list here.
- Though Celtics team president Danny Ainge and owner Wyc Grousbeck both appear open to waiting until as late as the 2021 offseason to exercise the $28.5MM traded player exception they acquired in exchange for now-Hornets forward Gordon Hayward in 2020, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston cautions that such an approach could be risky.
Appearing today on Toucher & Rich on The Sports Hub 98.5 WBZ-FM in Boston, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge discussed his team’s recent slump and reiterated a couple points he made last week, expressing a belief that the team as constructed as not “good enough” to compete for a title and putting the blame on himself for the roster’s shortcomings (Twitter links via Keith Smith of RealGM).
While Ainge accepted responsibility for the holes on Boston’s roster, he also shared some concerns about the team’s intensity level. Ainge stressed that he believes in the club’s current players, but said, “I wish they were playing harder” (Twitter link via Smith).
“The intensity level hasn’t been there,” Ainge said (Twitter link via Smith). “I don’t know how to explain it. Our team isn’t playing well. They don’t play hard all the time. I don’t have an explanation. It’s been frustrating for the players and the coaches.”
According to Ainge, surrounding Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with more scoring and more “dynamic talent off the bench” is a priority. While the Celtics’ top executive restated that he doesn’t want to make a move just to do something, he said the team is always looking for ways to upgrade its roster. “Time will tell” if it happens before the deadline, Ainge added (Twitter links via Smith).
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- Specifically addressing the possibility of utilizing the Celtics’ $28.5MM trade exception before the trade deadline, Ainge noted that the exception might be easier to use during the offseason, when the hard cap isn’t a concern and more teams around the NBA can afford to make big-money deals that drastically shake up their rosters (Twitter link via Smith).
- Appearing on Felger & Mazz on 98.5 FM in Boston, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck made it clear that the franchise is happy with Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens, despite the club’s struggles. “They’re our guys and we’re sticking with them, and it’s not even a question in my mind,” Grousbeck said (audio link via NBC Sports Boston).
- Hawks big man John Collins is one potential trade candidate who could appeal to the Celtics, so Chris Kirschner, Jay King, and Jared Weiss of The Athletic dug into a hypothetical trade to try to determine whether there’s a match between the two teams. Kirschner – who cover the Hawks -and the two Celtics’ writers ultimately agreed that something like Payton Pritchard, Carsen Edwards, and two or three first-round picks might work.