The Boston Celtics have started out their NBA title defense very well with a 21-6 record through 27 games.
Jayson Tatum is a legit MVP candidate. Jaylen Brown is playing fantastic after winning Finals MVP in June. Payton Pritchard is arguably the leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year amid a career-best season for the 26-year-old point guard. Boston, as a team, is on pace to break several single-season league records for 3-point shooting.
There's a lot to like about how the Celtics are playing right now, but you can always improve both on the court and in terms of building the roster.
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The trade deadline is set for Feb. 6, so there's still more than a month remaining for teams to make deals ahead of the playoffs. The Celtics are in the second apron, though, which is a part of the CBA that puts restrictions on high-spending teams.
Our Celtics insider Chris Forsberg recently broke down what the second apron means for the C's as the trade deadline nears:
- The Celtics cannot aggregate contracts in a trade, meaning they cannot combine contracts to acquire a more valuable player. If the Celtics were to move, say, Jaden Springer’s $4 million contract, they cannot combine him with Queta’s $2 million deal to hunt a $6 million player.
- The Celtics cannot sign any buyout player who was previously making more than the midlevel exception this season.
On the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston's Celtics Talk Podcast, Forsberg was joined by ESPN's NBA front office insider Bobby Marks.
🔊 Celtics Talk: Exploring Celtics' roster options with ESPN's Bobby Marks | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
What might the Celtics want to look for if they do make a move in the trade market or on waivers or the buyout market? Marks thinks wing depth and/or another frontcourt player would make sense.
"Listen, everybody wants wing depth, that's always the big thing," Marks said. "Hey, can we get a big wing off our bench? I think all playoff teams are looking for it, and can you get a little more frontcourt depth, kind of in between a small forward and power forward, something in that nature. That would be a priority.
"I think the interesting thing with the apron rules, and not many people know this, is that you can trade for minimum players and still exceed the apron. That's kind of a little bit of a loophole there where you can scour the market and you can look at, I don't know, a team that's out of it, whether it be Utah or Detroit or Brooklyn, and maybe there's somebody there that, maybe instead of sending your pick with Jaden Springer, maybe you go out and use that pick to acquire somebody to give you some help there. I think it'll be interesting to see what happens.
"P.J. Tucker is interesting. That's something the Celtics would have to do their homework on, not from a trade standpoint, just from a waiver standpoint, because I think his salary is below that threshold there. But he hasn't played all year. How do you integrate him? Is he happy? You saw Jae Crowder, who was out of the league for a while, is in Sacramento now. The name sounds great, but what's the production going to be? I think whoever they get has to be content as far as what their role is going to be like."
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One name to keep an eye on as the trade deadline approaches is Lonnie Walker IV, whom the Celtics signed to an Exhibit 10 contract over the summer but didn't keep for their Opening Night roster. Walker is currently playing in Lithuania.
"You're going to hear probably a lot about Lonnie Walker IV over the next five, six weeks here because he's got a buyout in his contract in Europe," Marks explained. "I talked to his agent when I was driving up to Orlando and he's like, 'He's playing awesome.' For Europe, he's on a great streak as far as playing over there. So that's a name.
"He was in (the Celtics') camp. (They) know him. He knows the system. He can come in, and without the expectations that he has to play. But it's a nice insurance policy for a guy that you can throw in a playoff game because he's been there before."
The Celtics acquired Xavier Tillman Sr. and Jaden Springer at last year's trade deadline. And with their own first-round pick and three second-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft, the C's could make a move or two before Feb. 6.
Also in this episode:
- Bobby Marks on the Celtics' season so far
- Biggest threat in the East?
- Has Brad Stevens made all the right moves?