The Boston Celtics entered the 2018-19 NBA season as the No. 1 favorite NBA team to dominate the Eastern Conference. The return of Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward made most people believe that the Celtics have a real chance of taking down the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors in a best-of-seven series.
In a recent interview with Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe , Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck said that, on paper, there were lots of things to be excited about their team. Unfortunately, since the season started, the Celtics have failed to live up expectations and don’t even look like the team that was supposed to be best in the Eastern Conference. With the Celtics currently one of the top-10 teams in both offense and defense, Grousbeck believes they have no reason to be “overly concerned.”
However, Grousbeck admitted that they need to take “another step” to have a “special season.” Grousbeck revealed that they currently trying to determine if they could do something before the February NBA trade deadline that could “advance the team to a new level.”
“Well, this team is stacked with a lot of talented players on reasonable contracts, and a ton of draft picks. So that’s why our phone is already ringing. Our history is that we try to make the big deal and have gone for it. We try to put banners in the rafters. There’s only one so far [from this ownership group]. We’d like to have another one up there, and that may require another move, or just continued growth with these guys. We’ll have to see.”
As of now, the Celtics are sitting in the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference with a 22-15 record. If they won’t have a massive improvement with their performance in the coming weeks, the Celtics should seriously consider upgrading their roster before the February NBA trade deadline. The Celtics currently have a plethora of trade assets to engage in a blockbuster deal, like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier, together with multiple first-round picks.
In the past months, rumors and speculations have continued to circulate that the Celtics have expressed strong interest in acquiring Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans. However, the earliest that the Celtics could pursue Davis is when Kyrie Irving signs a new contract in the 2019 NBA free agency. If they want to acquire Davis before the February NBA trade deadline, the Celtics would need to sacrifice Irving since, according to league rules, a team can only have one player who signed under the “Derrick Rose Rule” on their roster.
Other potential trade targets for the Celtics include Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets, and Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic.
