To strengthen the Bench, who would you Trade Away, by the Feb. 8, 2024 Deadline?

[Parliament10]

Insider Expects Celtics To Be ‘Active’ at NBA Trade Deadline
TOM DIERBERGER | DEC 5, 2023

https://www.si.com/nba/2023/12/05/celtics-active-nba-trade-deadline-insider-states

Among the potential trade targets could be Bulls guards Alex Caruso and Jevon Carter and Wizards guard Delon Wright, who are all contributing on teams expected to be sellers later this season.

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We still have the Grant TPE, as well.

[cl2117]

Hauser and Horford are definitely off limits. Walsh is also a guy I'd like to hang onto for the future.

Pritchard realistically would have to go for salary matching purposes to get any significant upgrade, but he's seemingly turned a corner since the awful start to his season with his shot finally falling from 3. The rest of the guys all feel like they offer a specific skillset that could be a tool in the chest: Svi (shooting/playmaking), Brissett (hustle/size), Stevens (defense), Banton (wildcard). For as much trash I talk about Kornet he can eat minutes just fine.

I think the only deal I'd be open to would be some sort of 5 for 1 for Beef Stew with Brad also using the TPE to bring in a couple of other guys to add depth.

Given KP's injury history and Horford's age I think we're much more at risk of our frontcourt being our achilles heel than our backcourt, so would be fine to move Pritchard and a smorgasbord of the others for Stewart (again assuming we can backfill at least a couple of those guys via the TPE).

I don't think we have to make any moves based on the way we're playing though. Might be better not to rock the boat, but if Brad feels he can improve his rotation by moving any of the guys listed outside of Horford/Hauser, then by all means fire away.

[Infinite Llamas]

I read Stevens on the poll and instantly thought of Brad lol

[GWVan]

I don't think we go crazy at thedeadline. The narrative that we havea horrible bench has been proven wrong in the last few weeks. Orlando's bench scores a lot of points and everyone loves them but our bench just outplayed them.

[31to6]

you talked me into it; I'd trade Svi for Harrison Barnes
(I know, the salaries don't match up)

Almost all of us would trade almost anyone to improve the roster, right?
But I'd expect most improvement the rest of the season -- if we can be so bold as to hope for some, which I am -- comes from growing cohesion from Tatum on down, and the coaching staff getting the most they can out of bench guys like Lamar, Queta, and (dare I hope it?) Banton.

[Celts17Pride]

I'm expecting no trades and Celtics pick up a buyout player.

[ConstableGeneva]

[bisme37]

Even a great bench can still be upgraded but honestly I kinda like the guys we have. The stats show they are a relatively low-scoring group but we have plenty of guys who can put the ball in the basket and it's not like we sub out all the starters and have the bench out there all at once. So they really just need to space the floor, provide some energy and compliment the starters, which they do.

[165bows]

Even a great bench can still be upgraded but honestly I kinda like the guys we have. The stats show they are a relatively low-scoring group but we have plenty of guys who can put the ball in the basket and it's not like we sub out all the starters and have the bench out there all at once. So they really just need to space the floor, provide some energy and compliment the starters, which they do.

From the other thread, that Al and KP haven't been great together (about zero +/-).

Do they need a better (more mobile) third big so they can go double big if they want? Or do they have too much depth at C if those two are at their best not playing together?

[Jammer]

I think the untouchables are Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, White, Horford and Holiday.

I think that there is legitimate concern whether Pritchard and Kornet can duplicate their regular season success deep into the playoffs, I don't think that they can, and are the two most likely candidates to be upgraded. If Pritch is outgoing, a ball handler would have to be coming back who can also shoot 3's well. If Kornet is outgoing a physical, banger type Big (i.e. Andre Drummond) would have to be coming back. Drummond can guard players like Jokic and Embiid before a team is in the penalty, which is typically around the 1rst 6 minutes of the second and fourth quarters, which would put him close to Kornet's minutes.

I kind of like Dalano Banton, even though his handle isn't good enough for the pressing defenses Philadelphia and Miami utilize all the time in the playoffs. I'd also like to see what Jordan Walsh could do.

So the trade candidates are: Pritch, Kornet (Fully Unguaranteed), Brissett (2025 salary Player Option) and Mykhailiuk (50% guaranteed)

Here is a trade that the RealGM Trade Checker says works (Trade ID 7926108)

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/7926108

Chicago sends Boston Alex Caruso & Andre Drummond ($13M of Full Season Salary)

Celtics send Chicago 2024 & 2026 1rst Round Picks, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet & Oshae Brissett ($8M of Full Season Salary)

Wondering if this is a difference maker for the Celtics, but I can see the reasoning behind it for both parties.

[jordb2k7]

I think the untouchables are Tatum, Brown, Porzingis, White, Horford and Holiday.

I think that there is legitimate concern whether Pritchard and Kornet can duplicate there regular season success deep into the playoffs, I don't think that they can, and are the two most likely candidates to be upgraded. If Pritch is outgoing, a ball handler would have to be coming back who can also shoot 3's well. If Kornet is outgoing a physical, banger type Big (i.e. Andre Drummond) would have to be coming back. Drummond can guard players like Jokic and Embiid before a team is in the penalty, which is typically around the 1rst 6 minutes of the second and fourth quarters, which would put him close to Kornet's minutes.

I kind of like Dalano Banton, even though his handle isn't good enough for the pressing defenses Philadelphia and Miami utilize all the time in the playoffs. I'd also like to see what Jordan Walsh could do.

So the trade candidates are: Pritch, Kornet (Fully Unguaranteed), Brissett (2025 salary Player Option) and Mykhailiuk (50% guaranteed)

Here is a trade that the RealGM Trade Checker says works (Trade ID 7926108)

https://basketball.realgm.com/tradechecker/saved_trade/7926108

Chicago sends Boston Alex Caruso & Andre Drummond ($13M of Full Season Salary)

Celtics send Chicago 2024 & 2026 1rst Round Picks, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet & Oshae Brissett ($8M of Full Season Salary)

Wondering if this is a difference maker for the Celtics, but I can see the reasoning behind it for both parties.

Hauser is also untouchable. There’s no chance we can upgrade what he gives us at that salary with our restrictions.

[Homerclease]

[Hal14]

I think that

1) Brad and Joe both really like Payton and

2) you look at our roster and you watch the games, where is the main weakness? IMO it's the group of players further down the bench who a) are non-shooters and b) are just not that good overall (Banton, Brissett, Queta, Kornet, Stevens..heck, we could even include Walsh in this group).

Since these guys are all non-shooters, it makes it basically impossible to play more than 1 of them at a time. And even playing any of them is a challenge, given how much we rely on shooting 3's under Mazzulla..and considering none of them makes enough impact in other areas besides shooting to the point where you'd give them consistent mins or feel comfortable playing them in the playoffs

So I think you keep the top 8 guys intact. Then you package up 1 or more of the other guys along with draft capital (possibly use the Grant TPE) and try to acquire a bench player who a) is better than our other guys outside of the top 8 and b) is at least somewhat capable as a shooter

[hugepatsfan]

Brown can't be traded this year. Tatum obviously isn't getting moved. Holiday/White/Porzingis would be impractical to move. Horford and Hauser in theory could be moved, but seems counter productive to trade your best current bench players to upgrade your bench.

After those 7 guys, I'd trade literally anyone on the roster. Don't get me wrong, all of them are NBA caliber players. They al belong on rosters and can contribute in some way. But none of them belong in a playoff rotation of maaaaaaaaaaaybe Pritchard (and in some matchups he definitely doesn't). They are all replaceable. Not trying to be rude or dismissive to them, but none of them bring anything to the team that isn't easily replaceable or upgradable.

Walsh is the one guy from the rest of the roster I have some pause on moving because of the longer term potential to maybe be another Sam Hauser caliber find.

[Dogen]

Not saying he would be a difference maker in the playoffs, or that he's off limits, but I'd kinda like to see Walsh get a little burn with the big boys before making any decision.

[Memokerobi]

Even a great bench can still be upgraded but honestly I kinda like the guys we have. The stats show they are a relatively low-scoring group but we have plenty of guys who can put the ball in the basket and it's not like we sub out all the starters and have the bench out there all at once. So they really just need to space the floor, provide some energy and compliment the starters, which they do.

Agreed. We are in a unique situation where when you run a group of bench guys with 2-3 of our starters, White/Holiday and to an extent KP become your "bench scorers", ie. taking on a bigger scoring role than when they're playing with JT/JB on the court together

[Parliament10]

[shi-woo]

The disrespect to Hauser in this thread as compared to PP is ridiculous. Dude has been great for us the last two years, is one of the prest shooters in the league, and is on a nice contract through next year. He is a solid team defender, and would be a huge blow if lost.

Realistically the Top 8 is solid, and you aren't getting better value back, so it would have to be someone else getting moved. I think the team wants another active body, either at the 4/3 or the 4/5. You can see they want the wing body with Stevens and Oshae, but you can see they also want the big body with Luke and Q.

I hope we target someone like Daniel Gafford who I think could be had, Terrey Craig would also be another wonderful pick up for this team as a guy that you can throw at swings, hit 3's, and has been in some playoff series.

I wouldn't mind taking a flier on guys like Jalen McDaniels or Royce ONeale.

[Shak_Celts]

I'm not in a hurry to trade for anyone except caruso but I'm not going to be upset if we ride it out. I think our top 7 (horf and haus) should not be touched and I want Walsh to stay. Other than that, use w/e to get caruso! I like what pritch is giving this season, so I'm good with him too, but I'll ship him for caruso if it's the breaker... I'd give up a pick instead. I really like Brissy for his videos and personality, his weird voice has grown on me, but I'm not holding him back from any potential upgrade. Everyone else... not my queta and JD ... are up for grabs!

[Parliament10]

I feel like we have essentially 4 Squads.:

Starters
Rotation Bench
Deep Bench
Maine Squad (incl. Walsh)


Celtics Roster, 1st Half, 2023-24:
Starters: Holiday - White - Brown - Tatum - Porzingis
Rotation: Pritchard - Hauser - Horford/(Kornet)
Reserves: Banton - Mykhailiuk- Walsh - Brissett - Stevens
Two-Ways: Davison - Peterson - Queta