Boston Celtics: Nicolas Batum traded to Cs for Dennis Schroder in B/R mock trade

The Boston Celtics haven’t tipped off the season yet, but the NBA is a business that is always ready to make headlines next.

Trade season will really ramp up in December when players that signed contracts this past summer are eligible to be moved.

But writers are always looking to project the next shoe to drop in the wildly transactional world that is the NBA.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley crafted some last minute mock deals for all of the association’s 30 teams, and the C’s involved a point guard-for-wing swap:

"Boston Celtics receive: Nicolas Batum and 2022 second-round pickLos Angeles Clippers receive: Dennis SchroderBoston’s late addition of Schroder impressed with value—he is much better than a $5.9 million player—but the fit is less than ideal. With Marcus Smart running point and Payton Pritchard piloting the second-team offense, there isn’t a nagging need for Schroder’s score-first skill set.The Shamrocks could get better mileage out of flipping him to the Clippers, who may not be fully convinced by Reggie Jackson’s postseason re-emergence, for versatile veteran Batum and another second-round pick to play with."

Dennis Schroder is admittedly a player that might worry some Cs fans based off of the poor fit with the Los Angeles Lakers last year. But can we really write off the possibility that his 2020-21 season was just a particularly tenuous season with two known big-time personalities in LeBron James and Anthony Davis that both have had issues with the franchises that previously employed them?

The fit so far looks smoother than Buckley described, though. And quite frankly, the Cs don’t need another wing like Nic Batum with all of the talent they currently have.

If Brad Stevens could find a way to flip Juan Hernangomez for Batum instead, with draft consideration heading to the Los Angeles Clippers this time, then the Boston Celtics would really be in business.