Danny Ainge said Monday the Boston Celtics won't make a trade just for the sake of doing so.
But the Celtics reportedly have a few players they're interested in acquiring, and Davis Bertans still is among them.
Boston has "strong interest" in the Washington Wizards big man, Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix reported Tuesday.
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The question is how the Celtics could coax Bertans away from the Wizards, who have "rejected overtures" for the 27-year-old Latvian to date, per Mannix.
"Washington has effectively hung up on teams looking to extract Bertans," Mannix wrote, "but Boston could make things interesting if they throw a pick or two into the pot."
The Celtics have three 2020 NBA Draft assets: the Grizzlies' top-six-protected pick (likely to convey this season with Memphis currently eighth in the Western Conference), the Milwaukee Bucks' top-seven-protected pick and their own pick.
Boston Celtics
Mannix suggests the C's would have to send Washington at least one of those assets to land Bertans, who is making $7 million on the final year of a team-friendly deal.
That's a steep price, as Boston also would have to include a mid-level contract like Daniel Theis or Enes Kanter to make salaries match. But Bertans, who's averaging 15.0 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range, would fill a specific need for a Celtics team that lacks a knockdown shooter off its bench.
Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of the NBA trade deadline. This Thursday at 2:30 p.m., stream the 2020 NBA Trade Deadline Show on the MyTeams app and on NBCSportsBoston.com. Then at 7 p.m., tune into our Celtics Trade Deadline Special.
