Hassan Whiteside (Photo : Getty Images)
The Boston Celtics, brushed aside in recent NBA trade rumors may be ready to make their big move.
While the focus went from the Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers lately, the team which holds the biggest trade assets may assert their dominance and pull off a blockbuster in the next two weeks.
The source was Shams Carania of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports. "They worked out former Milwaukee Buck Larry Sanders last month and have had preliminary discussions about several big men on the trade market, sources told The Vertical."
It was more of a passing remark on a report centered on Marcus Smart, but it was enough confirmation from a reliable source that the Celtics are about to make their highly anticipated move.
While no names were mentioned by Carania, the local site NESN gave more clues on which frontcourt players the Celts are targeting. They pointed out that the Celtics need help on the rebounding front. "Boston ranks 28th out of 30 teams in rebound percentage and rebounds per game, and 26th in rebound differential (-3.5) per game."
According to Nicholas Goss' article on the site, the Celtics will "need to find the right fit and a deal that doesn't sacrifice the future of the club."
They are not looking at franchise-level players like DeMarcus Cousins (who is probably unavailable as Sacramento Kings GM Vlade Divac once again reiterated that they are not trading him) or Blake Griffin. Based on Goss' statement, they are probably not using their prime trade chip, the Brooklyn Nets' draft pick swap in this transaction.
This limits the prospects that they are pursuing, but there are still a lot of options. One of them is Tyson Chandler, a veteran from the Phoenix Suns averaging 11.8 rebounds a game. The Celtics will have to absorb his contract so they probably need to send off Amir Johnson (expiring) and second round picks.
Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic was a double-double machine but has seen dwindling time since the arrival of Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo. Still, he reaches double figures on the boards. It's the league's worst-kept secret that he's probably the odd-man out in the Magic frontline.
It would be a stretch for the Celtics but the top rebounder in the game today is Hassan Whiteside. There are different views regarding Whiteside's availability, and despite the aforementioned limitation of not including the Brooklyn Nets' pick, trading it for Whiteside and other players will not "sacrifice the future of the club" in the same way that a DeMarcus Cousins trade will.
