The Boston Celtics have flexibility ahead of the NBA trade deadline of March 25 thanks to the $ 28.5 million trade exception they received in exchange for sending Gordon Hayward to the Charlotte Hornets.
The question is how they will use it.
Several names have been tossed around as potential trade targets, but Chris Illix of Sports Illustrated explained on NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition” on Thursday that the Celtics should name the New Orleans Pelicans over a veteran they are allegedly willing to deal with.
“I’m still determined about JJ Redick,” Mannix said. “You’re talking about a combat-testing player with playing experience who can shoot basketball.”
Redick, the 11th overall pick in 2006, is a bit long in the tooth. He turns 37 in June and is currently in his 15th NBA season. It’s reasonable to wonder how much gas is left in the tank.
However, Redick’s shooting prowess cannot be denied, and Mannix believes the Duke product is more than capable of keeping his own defense in Brad Stevens’ system.
“How many guys have rolled through Boston who could not defend a leak before they got there and look, the Celtics still have a top-five defense in this league,” Mannix said. ‘Was Isaiah Thomas a kind of defensive stopper? Evan Turner played great minutes for Brad Stevens, he was not a good defensive player at all. They find ways to get guys to work as team defenders. And JJ Redick has been around long enough to be an excellent team defender. ”
Of course, acquiring Redick may not be enough to put the Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference. But this is a start.
Celtics basketball president Danny Ainge on Thursday identified “shooting with size” as Boston’s greatest need while shopping with his trade exception. And while Redick, at 6-foot-3, is not the greatest man, he undoubtedly marks the second subject.
The worst thing the Celtics could do, according to Mannix, is to sit on their hands through the trade deadline and not make a significant splash to expand their list around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“What I don’t want to see happen is that this team gets the deadline and that we have to have the same damn conversation about ‘Well, there really wasn’t much’ and the trade exception expires,” Mannix said. said. ‘It’s an incredibly valuable trade exception. You do not have to accept a bad contract to deduct from one. You have to take advantage of that if you are the Celtics. If that means you have to throw a protected first round, I do not care, you do. Whether it’s Harrison Barnes or JJ Redick, you’re letting something happen. ”
The trade exception – the largest in NBA history – expires in November and can be used to acquire multiple players.
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