The Boston Celtics are expected to be an active team at the trade deadline and Dion Waiters has become a target, while names like Jeff Green and Brandon Bass are the top options for Danny Ainge to deal and Rajon Rondo is likely not going anywhere unless it is a blockbuster for the team at the deadline.
Danny Ainge has said that the team will not be trading Rondo at the deadline and Pro Basketball Talk reports that one reason is because the team has a high asking price and that they only would be satisfied with a "blockbuster" move. The report says that Brandon Bass and Jeff Green are the top options to get moved by the Celtics and that the Phoenix Suns, Atlanta Hawks and Sixers could be options and heading into the deadline, everyone is looking for draft picks and that is why a deal may not get done.
Ainge has been shopping most of his players and since the team is fading in the east, there is a good chance at least one deal will get done and that could be for Green or Bass, while Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Avery Bradley also could move. The team plans on trying to rebuild hard leading into 2015 and that could be when they make their major moves and Rondo likely will remain with the Celtics long term if he doesn't get traded at this deadline. ESPN.com is reporting that Dion Waiters has come onto the radar of the Celtics and Ainge, as the team feels he has a great upside as a former top five pick and that if the demand is not too high, they could pull the trigger.
The report says that Ainge sees Waiters as a low risk, high reward type deal due to his talents and according to Grantland.com, it's likely that Cleveland moves him at the deadline. Waiters has been on the block for quite some time and with the Cavaliers playing so bad this season, there is a good chance that he will get moved and the Celtics could be a partner. The Celtics don't want to give up draft picks, because that is how they want to rebuild, but if they feel that Waiters can deliver on his promise as a former top five pick, it could be worth it for Ainge.
Green has been getting attention from the Atlanta Hawks, while the Phoenix Suns have looked into Bass, as they are in the playoffs right now in the west and are looking to make a run. The Suns have looked into a trade for Pau Gasol, but that hasn't come to fruition yet and after he was injured the Suns have put that on the back burner. Waiters will be a player that will get mentioned quite a bit in the coming week and with the Celtics at 19-35 on the season, they will be active at the deadline.
