Last month, the Boston Celtics, much like a number of other NBA teams, lost out on Anthony Davis when the New Orleans Pelicans agreed to send him to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package including several young players and draft picks. Furthermore, it appears that the Celtics may be losing their starting center of the past few seasons, as Al Horford recently declined the player option on the final year of his contract with the team. However, Boston appears to have a backup plan in mind, and could consider trading for Oklahoma City Thunder big man Steven Adams to address their needs at the center position.
In a report published Sunday, NBC Sports Boston ‘s A. Sherrod Blakely wrote that the 25-year-old Adams is “on Boston’s radar,” though it remains unclear how high he is on the Celtics’ priority list in the 2019 NBA offseason, or which players or draft picks the team could surrender in order to acquire the New Zealand native. Blakely did stress, however, that Adams has the skillset needed to be “given serious consideration” as a trade target. Last season, the 7-footer averaged 13.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while making his presence felt on both ends of the floor.
Although Steven Adams does not have the shooting range of modern-day centers such as Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns or Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid, the former 12th overall draft pick was described as someone who does more than just “[score] on layups and dunks.” Blakely highlighted Adams’ efficiency on the offensive end, as he currently has a career field goal shooting percentage of 58.8 percent.
Steven Adams is reportedly among those the Thunder are willing to trade to get out of the luxury tax https://t.co/YRbEsiFBa9 pic.twitter.com/g3BMeNGFFi
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) June 19, 2019
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Adams was one of three Oklahoma City players who were reportedly placed on the trading block as the Thunder hope to improve their roster and make a deeper run than usual in the NBA postseason. Aside from Adams, the Thunder are supposedly planning to trade wingman Andre Roberson and backup point guard Dennis Schroder, though there have been few rumors surrounding the latter two players’ likely destinations as of the moment.
Adams was not the only starting center listed by NBC Sports Boston ‘s Blakely as a possible big man acquisition for the Celtics this summer. Nikola Vucevic of the Orlando Magic was listed as a “legitimate target” in free agency coming off a season where he became a first-time All-Star. Likewise, Blakely also mentioned a number of second-tier free agents as potentially good fits for the Celtics’ system, including the Atlanta Hawks’ Dewayne Dedmon, the New York Knicks’ Noah Vonleh, and the Brooklyn Nets’ Ed Davis.
