Coming into the season with high expectations after signing Al Horford in the summer, the Boston Celtics are just a game over .500 and are tenuously at sixth in the Eastern Conference. Their stellar defense from last season has regressed and is now middle of the road. And while Isaiah Thomas is having a career year and Avery Bradley is playing extremely well, the Celtics have not been able to pick up a lot of victories.
Boston's inconsistent start is just one reason Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is looking to make a big trade and acquire a superstar player. But the problem for the Celtics is that the market for superstar-caliber players is virtually nonexistent. Ainge though, will likely be undeterred and try to use Boston's plentiful assets in picks and players to make a move before the February trade deadline. One player Ainge is reportedly eyeing is Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward.
The Jazz though, likely don't have any plans to trade Hayward, as he is in the middle of a career year. Hayward is Utah's best player and could be an All-Star for the first time this season. If Ainge wants Hayward, the Celtics will have to wait until the offseason when he becomes a free agent. According to The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski, Ainge and the Celtics will pursue Hayward in free agency, though he might likely remain in Utah.
"Danny's wanted to strike and, like everybody else, get that big star, get that big player," Wojnarowski said at the 35-minute mark of his podcast via WEEI. "[Al] Horford was a big play and a great get in free agency. They can still keep their eye on Gordon Hayward from Utah who's an unrestricted free agent this summer who played for Brad Stevens at Butler. I think there's still strong hope in Utah that he'll want to stay there."
Wojnarowski also said on his podcast that one reason the Celtics haven't been able to make a big trade yet is because Ainge is overvaluing players like Marcus Smart.
"Boston's interesting in that [it has] some good young players, they have draft picks they can put in deals and they have some veterans that hold some interest in places," Wojnarowski added. "I do wonder sometimes if Boston might overvalue some of the players they have compared to what the rest of the league sees in them. I think Marcus Smart might be starting to fall into that category. His name's been in some talks previously, and they've been pretty careful about who they'd give him up for."
You can understand what Wojnarowski is getting at since the Celtics have players like Smart and Terry Rozier that are somewhat similar yet don't do anything extraordinary. Smart is a bully of a defender, using his physicality to overwhelm and frustrate opponents but other than that, it seems as if the Celtics would be able to replace him rather easily. He does provide depth at point guard but so does Rozier, who in his second season has shown flashes of potential.
What Boston will eventually do is of course still undetermined. But with a roster filled with guards, an asset like the Brooklyn Nets pick, the Celtics potentially have the pieces to make a big trade. Or perhaps Boston will just wait until the summer to heavily pursue Hayward.
Whatever Ainge decides to do, he has had a successful track record of making the Celtics better with smart moves, so Boston will continue to show faith in Trader Danny to assemble a roster that will lead it back to championship glory.
