Forsberg: Ranking Danny Ainge's best trade assets
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is navigating the crawl to the 2021 NBA trade deadline with a $28.5 million trade exception that the team generated after delivering Gordon Hayward to Charlotte in November.During an appearance Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub's “Toucher and Rich," Ainge admitted the team’s biggest need is “shooting with size,” and suggested the late-March deadline is probably the sweet spot to strike with the largest traded player exception in league history.But in order to maximize the return haul, Ainge is going to have to offer more than just salary cap relief. In the quest for impact talent — players like Harrison Barnes, Nikola Vucevic, Maxi Kleber, or Aaron Gordon — the Celtics would have to offer more than just salary cap relief and part with some combination of future draft picks and young talent to facilitate those deals.Unfortunately for Boston, the team’s surplus of future first-rounders has finally dried up after utilizing picks from the Bucks and Grizzlies in November. The Celtics only have their own first-round picks to deliver at the moment.So let’s rank the team’s best available assets to dangle in trade talks, all while acknowledging that we’re not including the very best trade assets the team has — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — since the goal of this exercise is to determine how Boston can add talent around that star duo with the TPE.
With Tatum and Brown both signed to long-term extensions, the Celtics' picks would project somewhere in the 25-30 range for at least the next four years. Barring a catastrophic injury or unexpected implosion, Boston seemingly wouldn’t land in the lottery until at least Brown’s current deal ends after the 2023-24 season. Tatum is the only guaranteed contract on the books now for the 2025 campaign.
That’s a long way out and most GMs are not going to want to wait that long. But getting a bundle of picks from the Celtics that includes a 2025 or later pick would be ideal for a team with the long term in mind.
Remember, too, that the Stepien Rule prevents teams from trading their own first-rounder in consecutive years so any blockbuster that included multiple picks is going to push selections deep into the future anyhow.
His perpetual health woes haven’t helped his value and he’s a bit of a forgotten man among Celtics fans because of his absences. But Langford showed intriguing glimpses during his rookie season and Boston's brass has long been bullish on his potential.
To put it another way: If the Celtics are confident he’s simply been snakebitten by injuries to start his career, he’s the young player (not named Jayson or Jaylen) they’d most like to keep out of a deal, especially given how valuable versatile wings are in this league.
Based on early returns, Pritchard would be a desirable young player who has already shown he can carve out a role on the roster of a legitimate contender.
The only reason he’s behind Langford here is the league doesn’t tend to prioritize undersized guards. But if Pritchard can keep up his hot shooting from deep when he returns from his knee sprain, he can play for any team in the league and contribute to winning.
Trading Timelord is a nonstarter for this armchair GM but we’d be remiss not to include him on this list. Williams is only 23 and under team control for at least one more season, and we’re extremely bullish on him evolving into a key frontcourt presence for this team. But we’ll relent that defensive lapses and health woes are reasons to at least consider putting him in a deal for impact talent.
The trouble is that Daniel Theis is a free agent after this season and the Celtics can’t splurge too much to retain him, at least with Tristan Thompson on the books for another year at $9.7 million.
It’s much too early to know exactly what the Celtics have in the No. 14 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. He’s incredibly raw on the defensive end but obviously could blossom into an impact shooter.
Brad Stevens’ reluctance to let him learn on the fly is a bit infuriating, especially during games like Wednesday in Sacramento when Boston was already painfully shorthanded (albeit not at his position but in a season where wing depth is painfully thin). Why not let the rookie sink or swim and at least hope to accelerate the development process?
Even though they project as late first-rounders at best, NBA teams love first-rounders. Assemble enough of them and you can muscle your way into any trade conversation. The Bucks dangled enough of them -- along with talent -- to land Jrue Holiday this past offseason.
We were tempted to shuffle these picks above Nesmith just because there’s always great value in what a draft pick might become versus the known reality.
Despite his penchant for drawing whistles and defensive limitations against beefier centers, Theis has been fantastic again for Boston.
His reasonable contract and Bird rights could intrigue a team to take him on but his timeline doesn’t match with a rebuilding squad. His $5 million salary could be useful in certain salary-matching situations but it’d be unique circumstances for Theis to be in any deal.
There are times that Grant Williams looks like a bona fide NBA starter with potential to thrive in small-ball lineups, and then there are times where his tweener status make it harder to see where he fits.
His basketball IQ is undeniable and, if the Celtics yearn to take back a player with size, it might make Williams a bit more expendable should another team be interested in his services.
Shooting is a premium in the NBA and maybe a lottery-bound team could offer the sort of playing time that might allow Edwards to find the consistency that evades him playing in spurts for the Celtics.
Boston has a handful of future second-round picks, though a couple will vaporize if they don’t land outside the Top 55. Still, picks are picks and teams will take them when it comes with cap relief as well.
