Getty Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics defends OG Anunoby #3 of the Toronto Raptors.
Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney caught up with an Eastern Conference executive to discuss which contenders in the league have glaring holes to fix. On the Boston Celtics, the roster hole is wing depth.
Outside of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics don’t have any other proven traditional wings on the roster. Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon can play on the wing, but because of their heights, they are used as wings exclusively in small-ball lineups. At 6-foot-6, Grant Williams has the height of a wing, but the Celtics use him more as a power forward and center.
To add wing depth, the Celtics could make a deal with their Atlantic Division rival the Toronto Raptors. Deveney suggested one trade proposal could look like this:
Celtics Receive: OG Anunoby
Raptors Receive: Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, two first-round picks (2025 and 2027)
He said the Raptors have considered trading Anunoby, 25, and he explained why Anunoby would fit on the Celtics.
“There have been rumblings that the Raptors would consider moving Anunoby in light of the rise of Scottie Barnes on the wing,” Deveney said. “No substantive talks have taken place on that, but if Anunoby should become available, he is potentially the missing piece in what would be a dominant Boston lineup on both sides of the ball.”
Keep a spot open for OG Anunoby on your All-Defense teams this season
Anunoby is in the second year of a four-year, $72 million contract that includes a player option for 2024-25. His $17.4 million cap hit season is the fourth biggest on the Raptors.
Exec’s Thought on the Proposed Trade
The Eastern Conference executive told Deveney that he believed that such a trade would depend on what Masai Ujiri, the Raptors’ president of basketball operations, would want.
“You never know how a trade discussion is going to go,” the executive said. “But that’s a low offer for Anunoby and Masai [Ujiri] will walk away if he is getting low-balled. Maybe they value picks, maybe they value Pritchard and White. I’d say they’d have to include Rob Williams or Grant Williams or [Marcus] Smart to make it work.”
Anunoby, who has been a starter for the Raptors since 2019, has career averages of 10.5 points on shooting percentages of 47% from the field and 37.2% from three, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals. He won a championship with the Raptors in 2019, although he did not play a game for them during most of their 2019 playoff run because of an emergency appendectomy. He did not appear in the finals.
Exec’s Thoughts on Celtics Acquiring Another Wing
The Celtics also have 6-foot-7 Sam Hauser and 6-foot-8 Justin Jackson on their bench, but that not might be enough, the executive said.
“We’ll see how things work for them with Sam Hauser and Jackson, but if there is a spot where they want to maybe find someone else, it’s at that wing spot,” he said. “They have great backcourt defenders and frontcourt defenders when they’re healthy, but someone off the bench who can be a wing-stopper would be big for them.”
Jackson, 27, did not play October 18 in the Celtics’ season-opening win against the Philadelphia 76ers, while Hauser played only three minutes, drawing a personal foul but putting up no other stats.
A preseason NBA.com story projected Hauser, 24, getting the opportunity to have an increased role in his second year in the league. He had a strong preseason, scoring 12 points per game on 51.5% shooting.
12.0 PPG ☘️ 51.5% FG ☘️ 48.1% 3PT
#GLeagueAlum Sam Hauser shot LIGHTS OUT for the @celtics in #NBAPreseason.