Getty Doug McDermott of the San Antonio Spurs, who was linked to the Boston Celtics, and Kyle Kuzma of the Washington Wizards.
The Boston Celtics have put together an impressive season, as they currently hold a 35-14 record, which is good for first place in the Eastern Conference standings. However, with the February 9 trade deadline just a couple of weeks away, they could look at ways to potentially improve.
There won’t be many teams willing to sell assets at the deadline this year, but one team that will undoubtedly be selling is the San Antonio Spurs. At 31 years old, Doug McDermott is a player that doesn’t fit the Spurs’ timeline and could therefore be on the trade market. According to Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report, he is a player Boston should target.
“While the Celtics boast elite shooting marks across the board, a designated three-point specialist could still carve out a helpful role in this rotation.
“Boston thought it had covered that void already. Twice, actually. Between Danilo Gallinari and Sam Hauser, the Celtics thought they had their three-point marksmen on board. However, Gallinari tore his ACL before the season started, and Hauser has gone frigid since the start of December (34.9 percent shooting overall, 28.6 percent from range).
“If the Celtics haven’t at least discussed a deal for Doug McDermott by now, they’re doing this wrong.
“The veteran sharpshooter owns a career splash rate of 41 percent. He’s a savvy enough mover off the ball that he could find his footing alongside Boston’s stars and a good enough inside-the-arc scorer to maintain value even when opponents run him off the three-point line,” Buckley wrote.
With Sam Hauser’s struggles from behind the three-point line, looking to add another sharpshooter could be a necessary plan for the Celtics. McDermott would fit that bill. He has appeared in 42 of the team’s 48 games and is playing 20.3 minutes per contest. The veteran is averaging 10.2 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game on 47.7% shooting from the field and 41.8% shooting from behind the three-point line.
Celtics Lose Trade Asset Ahead of Deadline
While Boston should look to be active on the trade market, they recently lost an important asset that they could have utilized. As reported by Keith Smith of CelticsBlog and Spotrac, the Celtics lost the TPE they gained in the Juancho Hernangomez trade.
“The Boston Celtics $6.9 Traded Player Exception from the Juancho Hernangomez deal last January 19 has expired.
“Boston has a $5.9M TPE from the Dennis Schroder deal that will expire on February 10.
“Celtics also have a $3.2M DPE for Danilo Gallinari. That’s good through March 10,” Smith tweeted.
Celtics Could Trade for Jakob Poeltl
Boston has been connected to another player outside of McDermott, too. Jakob Poeltl is a player who they have been mentioned alongside multiple times. According to LJ Ellis of Spurs Talk, the Celtics could remove some protections off of the pick they traded San Antonio in the Derrick White trade last year in an attempt to land Poeltl.
“The Boston Celtics are another team that multiple league sources say are very interested in trading for Poeltl,” Ellis wrote. “The Celtics reportedly see Poeltl as the perfect fit to fortify their frontcourt as they gear up for a championship push. I’ve been told that Boston’s latest offer for Poeltl includes a completely unprotected 2028 first round pick. Currently, the Spurs have the option to swap first round picks with the Celtics in 2028 as long the pick isn’t the first overall selection. That pick swap was acquired by San Antonio as part of the Derrick White trade.”