The Boston Celtics continue to make roster adjustments after failing to get a majority of the Plan A options. With salary cap space to spare, the Celtics were targeting plenty of big names along with several draft trades. However, most of those plans fell through, leaving the Celtics to look elsewhere. As they continue to make moves in order to set up for successful years to come, will Boston continue to make trades before the season starts?
The Celtics made a nice trade on Monday acquiring Zoran Dragic and a 2020 second-round draft pick from the Miami Heat according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. The best part of the trade is that the Heat promised to pay his salary for next season so Boston promptly waived him. That frees up salary cap space while also gaining a draft pick for the Celtics. These are the kind of trade deals Boston will continue to target heading into the season.
With the Dragic deal done, the Celtics finalized the David Lee, Gerald Wallace trade with the Golden State Warriors. Lee will be a solid addition for Celtics as he averaged 7.9 points on a 51.1 shooting percentage off the bench. The 10-year veteran will be critical to the young Boston squad while giving them size and versatility to lead the reserves. So what move could be next in Boston?
According to John Goggin of Hoops Habit, the Celtics must determine just what kind of future both Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk have with the franchise. With players like Amir Johnson, Lee and Perry Jones III signing onto the team, the Celtics are loaded at the frontline. That makes other players expendable and Sullinger and Olynyk appear to have the best value on the team. According to Hoops Habit, both players are at risk of getting traded in the preseason if they fail to establish themselves as key roster players.
The Celtics are preparing to have a lot of competition in training camp heading into next season. Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart will battle to lead the backcourt. Jae Crowder and Jonas Jerebko will compete at forward while bigs like Lee and Johnson compete to start. The roster is crowded at the moment and if the Celtics can get a few more trade deals to load up on draft picks, they could easily make the move.
