Boston Celtics: 10 Potential Star Trade Targets
3. Carmelo Anthony
If the Celtics actually want Carmelo Anthony (which recent reports suggest that they don’t), they have the most potential options to put together an adequate trade package. Boston has a collection of assets and useful role players to choose from, and a player like Melo might be enough to make them a serious threat to the Cavaliers.
Ainge wouldn’t deal the Brooklyn Nets’ 2017 first round pick for a 32-year-old Melo, especially since that pick is slotted to be the No. 1 selection at the moment. The question is, could Ainge get away with a trade that doesn’t involve one of Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart or Avery Bradley?
If the New York Knicks are smart, the answer to that question would be “no.” But that won’t stop Ainge from trying for something like Amir Johnson (who’d be almost essential to a Melo trade for salary-matching purposes), Tyler Zeller, Terry Rozier and the 2018 Brooklyn Nets first-rounder to start.
Melo is 32 years old now, but he’s still averaging 23.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game while shooting 36.5 percent from three-point range. He could be plugged in as a small-ball 4 and would make Boston an even greater Eastern threat, even if he wouldn’t help the defense in the slightest.
For New York, Johnson is a useful two-way player, Zeller is a backup big and Rozier is a 22-year-old NBA sophomore who’s shown flashes of potential but little more. The real asset would be Brooklyn’s 2018 first-rounder, but the actual players being swapped might not be good enough.
An alternative might be something like Amir Johnson, rookie Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, but a pick would be overkill and the Celtics are high on the potential of both Smart and Brown.
A fair deal for both sides would probably look something like Amir Johnson, Jae Crowder and the 2018 Nets pick, though it’d kill Boston to part with a hard worker like Crowder. A useful stretch-4 like Jonas Jerebko could be thrown in with certain deals as well.
As much as it’d hurt to part with Crowder though, his defense hasn’t been quite as good this season. With Gordon Hayward hitting free agency this summer, head coach Brad Stevens could potentially replace Crowder on the wing by signing his former Butler star.
A core of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Hayward, Melo, Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and a top-three pick from this year’s draft would be a force to be reckoned with for years to come, so if Ainge is willing to part with Crowder and a valuable Nets pick to make it happen, the Celtics would have the inside track on a Carmelo Anthony trade.
The problem is, if Ainge isn’t willing to deal for an ideal two-way fit like Paul Millsap, trading for Melo might make even less sense, even if they’re one of the teams he’d waive his no-trade clause for. The Knicks would be wise to push for a deal with the Celtics, but if Boston doesn’t view Anthony as the missing piece it needs to get over the hump, the point is moot.