The Boston Celtics are in an interesting situation as the trading deadline comes up and their best piece right now is Jeff Green and with deals starting to take form, some reports have the Phoenix Suns for Emeka Okafor or the Houston Rockets for Omer Asik as the best fits for Boston at the deadline and this comes as the team has said it will not trade away Rajon Rondo.
The Celtics pulled off a money saving deal already this season with the Jordan Crawford move and now reports from Yahoo Sports and other outlets have the team exploring some other deals before the NBA trading deadline. According to Yahoo Sports, the Celtics are likely to trade Green to get his contract off the books and he has been a name that has come up repeatedly in rumors, including when many felt that the Celtics were looking to trade Rajon Rondo, but now that appears to not be happening for Danny Ainge and company.
According to Yahoo and Adrian Wojnarowski, the Celtics fit a couple deals involving Green, including to the Phoennix Suns for Emeka Okafor and to the Houston Rockets for Omer Asik. The deal for Asik looks like it won't be going down after what GM Daryl Morey said to the rpess about keeping him until his contract is up, but that could change as the deadline gets closer. The Celtics and Rockets appeared close on a deal in December, but the Celtics did not want to give up too many draft picks and it fell apart. Woj says the Suns are a fit for Green because of Emeka Okafor and his deal, as Green is owed nearly $10 million and Okafor has an insurance policy that pays out the team if he gets dealt at $5 million and he also has an expiring contract for $14.5 million dollars that teams would love to get their hands on.
The Celtics reportedly now will look to sign Rondo to a large extension and he himself said that he wouldn't mind staying in Boston for the next decade and now that very well could happen if Ainge decides to keep him on the roster. The team has names like Green, Brandon Bass and Kris Humphries could move at the deadline, which is now getting much closer at February 20 and the Celtics also could be involved in acquiring players.
The Celtics are sliding away in the terrible east and while Rondo looks like he will be there to stay, there is a good chance that the team will be active at the deadline even if Ainge says they won't. The team can get rid of some money and also free ups space for the future and they have plenty of draft picks coming up, as do the Phoenix Suns, as they have six over the next two seasons and now both teams could be in the mix at the deadline and Green is a name that will come up again.
