Boston Celtics: Ranking Team’s Most Valuable Trade Assets
By Jon Shames
The Boston Celtics project to be active during this season’s NBA trade deadline. The team has a huge cache of assets; which are the most tradable?
The Boston Celtics are in a heck of a position as the NBA trade deadline approaches.
In two separate transactions, the first of which came in July 2013, and the second of which came in December 2014, Boston flipped an aging championship core comprised of Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce for five future picks and young talent.
Credit general manager Danny Ainge for approaching every move with the future in mind, because it has set the Celtics up for years of future success.
Not only is Boston the sixth-youngest team in the NBA, it could have as many as 23 draft picks at its disposal over the course of the next five years. On top of that, the club is headed by the ever-savvy Brad Stevens, a 39-year-old coach who is already considered one of the best in the NBA.
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All of this has translated to immediate success as well, as the Cs currently own third place in the Eastern Conference behind a convincing 32-23 record.
But as the NBA trade deadline approaches, the Celtics have a major decision that must be made: should Ainge try to swing a deal to improve the team now so that they can contend this season, but risk sacrificing future success in doing so? Or would it be more beneficial to stand pat and allow the core to grow organically under Stevens’ guidance?
This Boston club has demonstrated that it can hang with the best in the regular season, but achieving playoff success is a whole different animal. The likelihood of this team contending for a championship is slim, as it stands right now.
As mentioned before, the Celtics have more than enough capital to make a major deal happen. But unfortunately, the pieces that the league values most are the ones that the Celtics do, too. Some of the Celtics’ most skilled players — most notably Isaiah Thomas — are far too important to this team’s current success to be dealt.
By the same logic, someone like Kelly Olynyk, who is a perfect fit with this Boston team, but likely wouldn’t garner much interest around the league, cannot be considered highly tradable.
So, considering both league-wide interest and importance to this club, here are the Cs’ five most tradable assets leading up to the 2016 deadline.
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