This isn't wouldn't be the be-all, end-all answer. But it might take a significant step in the right direction for the Celtics.
Who says no this trade ...
Celtics get: JJ Redick
Pelicans get: Javonte Green, two second-round picks
On the surface, New Orleans might ask why it should bother with such a deal. The second-rounders obviously mean little, and Green might not even be a rotation player for the Pelicans.
At this point, it's something. And the way that Redick is playing for the Pelicans, along with the money he is getting paid (just more than $13 million), that should be good enough. This is a 36-year-old player who just totaled 11 minutes in his last game, going 0-for-6 from the field (all 3-pointers).
Obviously, the way this works financially is that the Celtics use some of that $28.5 million trade exception garnered in the Gordon Hayward deal.
How it works on the court for the Celtics is more of an unknown.
There is no doubt that Brad Stevens' team could use the kind of sharp-shooter Redick has proven to be over his career, shooting better than 41 percent from beyond the 3-point stripe. But this season he is managing just a 30 percent clip from three for the 5-10 Pelicans.
Redick has had his moments while averaging 20 minutes per game, scoring double-digits in five of the six games prior to being shutout over the weekend.
And Green does have some upside, which is why Stevens has played him an average of 17.6 minutes per game this season. It has gone under the radar, but the 27-year-old guard has been economical on the offensive end (51 percent from the floor) and solid defensively.
It's worth a conversation.