Despite failing to dethrone LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers as Eastern Conference champions, the future still looks bright for the Boston Celtics. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier have shown the Celtics’ ability to compete even after losing both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward to injury.
Sean Deveney of Sporting News believes the Celtics will be facing a big issue in the upcoming offseason. But it is the type of problem most NBA teams would like to have, and that is sorting out the current talents on their hand. As Deveney noted, the Celtics currently have six players who deserve to be part of the starting lineup next season. These include Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Al Horford, Kyrie Irving, and Gordon Hayward.
If they proved to be 100 percent recovered from injury, it is easy to say that Irving and Hayward will join Horford in Coach Brad Stevens’ starting five. Playing the same position as Irving, Rozier could be the one who will come off the bench next season. However, Deveney entered the possibility that the Celtics could use their young core as trade baits to bring another superstar to Boston this summer.
“That’s led to speculation that the Celtics will be involved in trade talks this summer for some of its talent, and they surely will have discussions. Some of the players who have been involved in that speculation — Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis — are pipe dreams. San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard is a more realistic Celtics target, but might require too steep a price in return.”
Celtics’ Jayson Tatum is named to NBA All-Rookie first team https://t.co/kfWQ9EpsGj
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) May 23, 2018
Several NBA superstars are expected to be available on the trade market in the upcoming offseason. With the plethora of trade assets they have, the Celtics are currently in a strong position to engage in a blockbuster trade. In the past months, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, and Karl-Anthony Towns emerge as Celtics’ potential targets this summer.
To acquire one of those superstars, the Celtics will be needing to include at least one of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, or Terry Rozier in the trade package that may also contain multiple first round picks. Trading one of their young players is undeniably a tough decision for Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge since all of them have shown their potentials to become a superstar in the league. However, it is a sacrifice Ainge needs to make for Boston to become a legitimate title contender once again.
