As the Feb. 9 deadline to trade players draws nearer every day, the question of what the Boston Celtics may do at the 2023 NBA trade deadline comes into sharper focus, with cap expert Yossi Gozlan of our sister site Hoops Hype having recently put together a primer of what might happen with every team in the league at the deadline to such an end, the Celtics of course included.
While the prevailing wisdom of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ may seem the obvious route for a better version of the ball club that made (and nearly won) the 2022 NBA Finals, it is not set in stone that this is what will happen at the deadline, as recent rumbles have hinted.
Let’s take a look at what Gozlan had to say about Boston in particular.
Noting just how good Boston has been of late, Gozlan asks if “they want to package some of their end-of-bench guys with draft equity for another rotation player.” That could be one approach with the $6.5 million salary of Danilo Gallinari, who has a $6.8 million player option for next year.”
“Just convincing another team to take on the injured veteran alone might not be worthwhile, let alone trading him for a rotation player.”
“Given that they’re $23.7 million over the luxury tax with a projected $58.9 million penalty, they may prefer to actually trade these players to save money and replace them on the buyout market,” he continues.
“This could include trading players such as Justin Jackson who wasn’t waived ahead of the January 10 guarantee cutoff date. They already reduced their luxury tax payment by over $9 million by trading Noah Vonleh and could save another $9 million by offloading another minimum player.”
“This would allow them to open up another roster spot and improve the team in the buyout market while saving money,” adds the H/H cap expert.
“The Celtics haven’t been afraid of making aggressive moves if the right opportunity presents itself,” observes Gozlan. “Since Brad Stevens took over as president of basketball operations, they’ve traded three first-round picks, each for Al Horford, Derrick White, and Malcolm Brogdon, respectively.”
“But they may be more likely to trade some of their second-round picks ahead of this deadline, especially since they’re projected to have 3 in this year’s draft.”
Check out what he sees as possible and what is likely for the rest of league here.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire