Now that the 2022 NBA trade season has arrived, articles detailing proposed trades are proliferating across the greater NBA media sphere. As one of the projected busiest teams on the trade market before the deadline (3 p.m. ET, Feb. 10), the Boston Celtics are among the most popular subjects for such articles.
That the team’s uneven play refuses to go away is not helping the case for those among us who detest such articles, and some of them are quite admittedly shocking in what they think Boston ought to do.
One such proposal was actually designed with that emotion specifically in mind, but with at least a plausible chance of actually making both teams better despite likely riling up the fan bases involved.
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That article, a new piece from Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley, cranks up the fan irritant level to 11 by suggesting a deal between two historic rivals and including one of the most important players for each team.
This would be the between the Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers, and we believe Buckley achieved his goal so far as shocking us, the reader.
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The deal is as follows: the Celtics get Anthony Davis, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kent Bazemore, and a 2027 first-round pick that is top-three protected.
In return, the Lakers get Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Aaron Nesmith, and a 2023 second-round pick from the Portland Trail Blazers.
If your head is spinning in rage, we understand. In terms of our attachments, this deal would be a tough one to swallow — but does it make sense on a basketball level?
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“The Celtics, essentially a .500 team since the start of last season, have been stuck in the mud long enough to face existential questions about the Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum tandem,” writes Buckley.
“The Lakers, a preseason favorite seeded seventh in the West, have struggled to the point that coach Frank Vogel “is in serious jeopardy” of losing his job and is being evaluated “on a game-to-game basis,” per the Athletic’s Bill Oram and Sam Amick. With the walls closing in on each club, could these storied rivals come together on an internet-breaking blockbuster?”
“Probably not, but for our mental exercise, this wouldn’t be the worst place to turn should each team feel trapped by its current predicament,” he adds.
The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown still feature in their respective positional top-10’s in the East’s All-Star fan voting update. https://t.co/9WkqC3uBSD
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 21, 2022
Trapped? Walls closing in? Perhaps we are delusional as fans of the Celtics, but with several years left on both Tatum and Brown’s current deals, there is a *lot* of time left to try sorting things out.
Moreover, the case can be made that as un-fun as this has been to watch, it is also part of the natural process of retooling from a title-oriented core that had the Jays in a supporting role under Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to one that features them — and caters to their talents.
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Moves were made to get an aging Kemba Walker off the roster, and more such moves may well come with players the team does not see as part of its future under Brown and Tatum.
With the front office showing minimal concern and the two All-Star wings also seemingly unworried if unhappy with the struggles the team is going through with a roster that needs more shooting, shot creation, and ball movement, it seems only fans and analysts are buying this sort of narrative.
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With that caveat in mind, let’s look at the rest of what Buckley has to say about the proposed deal. “The Lakers are woefully short on trade chips, but dangling Anthony Davis would open up the tier of elite targets otherwise inaccessible to them,” he suggests.
Jaylen Brown looks like he was built to cure their biggest issues, simultaneously scratching itches for shot-creation, three-point shooting and perimeter defense. He is young enough (25) to run the floor with Russell Westbrook and skilled enough to work half-court sets with LeBron James. Marcus Smart is the point-of-attack stopper the Lakers have missed since splitting from Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope over the summer. Spacing could get tight with a Smart-Westbrook backcourt, but if Smart gets back to the 34.8 clip he shot over the past three seasons, that could ease some concerns.”
“Sophomore Aaron Nesmith might add a bit of breathing room, too, if he ever lives up to his predraft reputation as a fireballer from range,” notes the B/R analyst, making a solid case for L.A. — but what about Boston?
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“The Celtics were linked to Davis back when he wanted out of the Big Easy, and substantial interest could remain,” opines Buckley — though injuries and inconsistent play have us less certain.
“The overlapping concerns of the Brown-Tatum combo would be out the window with Davis, an intimidating paint presence who can finish above the rim and find offense away from it. Having him and Robert Williams III in the same frontcourt would basically put a barricade between opponents and the basket. Talen Horton-Tucker has hit some road bumps in his third season, but he’s still 21 years old and flashes enough shot-creation to let imaginations run wild about his future. The future pick, which wouldn’t convey until James was 42 years old and (presumably) done with the Lakers, could have considerable trade value for Boston to pick up a replacement floor general.”
“Kent Bazemore, added primarily as salary-filler, has shown three-and-D competence in the recent past,” notes the author while pointing to an area of need for the Celtics.
The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown still feature in their respective positional top-10’s in the East’s All-Star fan voting update. https://t.co/W3e2Z8C5St
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 21, 2022
If it were the version of AD that Boston was angling for when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans, we might be more enthusiastic. But Davis’ vaunted defense has declined with his health, and his offensive efficiency from deep has fallen precipitously from his better years of around 33 or 34% to just 17.9%.
“Is this likely?” Buckley asks us, correctly answering “Not at all.”
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— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 21, 2022
Adding the caveat that “if each franchise feels it is stuck, it’s at least feasible to think they’d see this swap as a way to unstick themselves,” the B/R writer is not wrong in the hypothetical scenario he constructs.
But at least from where we sit, that eventuality is at least a full season away — if not longer.
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