Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics have their work cut out for them as they approach the 2021 NBA trade deadline.
The C's have been the very definition of mediocre to this point in the season, posting a record of 14-14 and sitting in fifth place in the East standings as of Thursday. It has become clear over the last couple of weeks that a move needs to be made if Boston is to have any shot at making a deep postseason run.
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So where does Ainge start? The $28.5 million traded player exception certainly helps, but will he use it this season or wait until it may be more valuable at season's end? If he does use the trade exception, what types of deals should he consider?
Chris Forsberg and MassLive.com's Brian Robb discuss it all on a brand new Celtics Talk Podcast:
Celtics Talk Podcast: Checking Danny Ainge’s to-do list, and a chat with Red Claws president Dajuan Eubanks | Listen & subscribe | Watch on YouTube
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"When you look at the trade exception, to me it's you need to address the wing situation," Robb said. "And there's a host of guys, you've obviously been big on the Harrison Barnes trade. That's clearly a guy that they could use in a serious way to fill that void and also just be the kind of low-usage guy you want there in terms of 'you're going to hit 3s, you're going to play defense, and that's not really going to throw the rest of the team out of whack.'
"The problem is when you look at the rest of the league is there's not a lot of teams that are clearly identified as sellers right now. So Barnes' availability will very much be in question and you could say that for I think 24 or 25 teams around the league right now. Like yeah, you can get certain guys, but you're going to have to probably bowl these teams over with assets to get them. That's something Danny Ainge and some in his front office do not want to do. ..."
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Rather than spending a ton of assets for one big name, Robb would prefer the Celtics to fill more holes on the roster by breaking it up into multiple acquisitions.
"For me, I think you try and look at breaking it up. Because I think it's pretty clear that you could use two or three upgrades on this roster right now," Robb said. "Especially with [Jeff] Teague kind of, you know -- that's an obvious replacement. ... I look at maybe a wing, maybe like a guy who makes a little less salary like a George Hill in OKC, a Josh Hart down in New Orleans makes only a couple million dollars, so I think those are the type, like if you can get him with like a JJ Redick package then that's a deal that starts making some sense."
Also in the new episode: What’s the biggest problem with the Celtics right now? Does Brad Stevens need to give the bench more chances? Can the Celtics become a championship contender this year? And an interview with Maine Red Claws president Dajuan Eubanks.
Check out the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast on your favorite podcast app or watch it on YouTube below.