A roller-coaster. That’s the only way to describe the Celtics' five-game road trip which wraps up Tuesday night in Salt Lake City against the Jazz.
A real high of beating a legitimate title contender in the Los Angeles Clippers in their building was followed up with a 100-91 loss at the Phoenix Suns.
It’s important to note the Celtics have been missing Jaylen Brown the last two games which makes the win in LA that much more impressive. Daniel Theis was also out for the second half of that game.
Boston will soon get healthy with its full squad on the court, a rarity for any team in any sport playing during this pandemic. But it feels like they are still one piece short.
Danny Ainge recently said on Beasley Radio-Boston the team was already doing its homework on the upcoming trade deadline. “We are doing research on it and have been all year ,and we’ll continue all the way up to the trade deadline at the end of March.”
So what are the Celtics looking at?
“I would say maybe shooting, with size,” Ainge said of his priorities. “There are a lot of different ways you can win in this league. We could use shooting, we could use passing. But you always need defense and our team is built on defense. We’ve been winning with defense the last few years. I know we haven’t won a championship, but we need defense.”
Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer recently wrote, “Late Saturday evening, I received a flurry of texts from multiple executives around the league who said the Celtics were up to something. What they’re up to is unclear, but league sources have long said Boston is searching for upgrades to bolster its wing and big man position.”
Brooklyn got much better with the James Harden acquisition. Milwaukee and Philly are clearly better than Boston. So how can this team improve?
Here are five names that could change the Boston Celtics season:
JOHN COLLINS - The Hawks and Collins don’t seem to be close on a contract extension to keep him in Atlanta long-term. He reportedly turned down a four-year, $90 million deal. With that in mind, the Hawks would be wise to move Collins before losing him with no value in return at the end of the season as a restricted free agent. Collins is averaging 17 points per game on 54 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from three. Collins fits exactly what Ainge is looking for with size and shooting. The 6-9, 235-pound power forward would clearly be just a rental and likely cost the Celtics a rotation player and a first-round pick.
JJ REDICK - Historically one of the best shooters to ever play in the NBA, Redick has really struggled this season. This season, JJ isn’t even coming close to his 41.5 percent career 3-point rate and is 7.5 percent under that number right now. But there are signs of improvement after Redick shot 29 percent in the first two months of the season. Redick is 7-of-10 from three-point range in his return from a three-game absence. He is interested in a return to the Northeast and a return to the Sixers would be a big miss for the Celtics. Redick is on an expiring deal so if Ainge would ideally acquire him without using the massive trade exception.
NIKOLA VUCEVIC -- If the Celtics land Vucevic I would feel comfortable picking them to win the Eastern Conference. I’m not sure how they would be able to pull it off but Nikola would be an awesome fit with Jayson Tatum, Brown and Kemba Walker. Vucevic can back his man down, face up, run the pick & roll, pass the ball and shoot threes, a rate in which he’s at a career high of 42 percent. He’s been averaging about four assists over the past few seasons and can take some of the playmaking responsibility off Boston’s big three. Don’t expect this one to happen but celebrate in the streets if Ainge can work his magic.
KYLE ANDERSON -- AKA Slow Mo. Anderson is a do-it-all point forward for the Grizzlies who won’t ever dominate a game but will certainly leave an impact. Anderson is at a new career high this season at 12.7 points per game and has started 187 games for the Spurs and Grizzlies over his career. His ability to never be sped up by the defense despite usually being guarded by quicker defenders. Boston needs playmakers off the bench. This trade would be the most realistic of the trades presented so far and wouldn’t cost much. The money is not ideal at $9.5 million a year for this season and next.
ANDRE DRUMMOND -- The Cavs center will likely be on the move this season. The Brooklyn Nets seem to be a likely destination if they have anything left of trade value after acquiring James Harden. I don’t really like this move for Boston as it would wipe out the massive trade exception for a rental player who likely is unplayable at the end of games due to his poor free throw shooting. Ninety percent of his shots are within 10 feet of the rim. He doesn’t fit what Brad Stevens wants in a big man with zero ability to shoot outside. But again, neither does Tristan Thompson. On Jan. 3, 2020, Yahoo’s Vincent Goodwill reported Boston “registered interest” in Drummond. And just a handful on months ago in October, the Celtics were reportedly “monitoring the situation” with Drummond in Cleveland.
OTHER NAMES TO WATCH FOR: Aaron Gordon (when he gets healthy), Marvin Bagley III, Buddy Hield, Wayne Ellington, PJ Tucker, Kevin Huerter