Nets 3&D Wing Floated as ‘Home Run Get’ for Celtics

The Boston Celtics may be looking for more reinforcements this summer, and may look specifically at shoring up their wing depth. If that’s what they aim to do this summer, Zach Buckley floated Brooklyn Nets wing Dorian Finney-Smith as a trade option they should look into.

“It’s possible Dorian Finney-Smith will cost more than the Celtics can—or, at least, are willing to—give up in a trade. It’s also possible the Brooklyn Nets simply won’t let him go.

“But if neither of those things are true—Boston might sense a big enough need to justify paying a not insignificant price, and Brooklyn might be in the market for more assets—he’d be a home run get.”

Swartz added why Finney-Smith would fit well with the Celtics and how he could be attainable.

“The 6’7”, 220-pounder is a tireless defender who can extinguish fiery scorers of nearly all sizes and play styles. He’s also a much better shooter than he showed this past season (33.7 percent, down from 38.9 the three seasons prior).

“Assuming the 30-year-old’s erratic shooting was just a one-year fluke, it could actually be a blessing in disguise since it might lower his trade cost.”

Finney-Smith will be paid $13.9 million this coming season, so the Celtics would have to trade a few of their players, like Danilo Gallinari, Payton Pritchard, Mike Muscala, and Luke Kornet among others, to match salaries for Finney-Smith.

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Payton Pritchard Wants Out of Boston: Report

While talking about the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement, The Athletic’s Jay King revealed that Payton Pritchard wants a trade this summer.

“With the new onerous CBA rules looming after next season, the front office will likely have to decide in the next 12 months whether it can afford its expensive veteran depth. Payton Pritchard has made it clear he hopes to be traded this summer, according to multiple team sources, so will the Celtics move him if they trade one of their core guards?”

Pritchard’s role on the team was not as big as it had previously been after the team had acquired Malcolm Brogdon. A potential trade to the Nets for Finney-Smith could give Pritchard a bigger role than the one he currently has with the Celtics.

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Proposed Trade Sends Jaylen Brown to Portland

Following the Celtics’ failure to advance to the NBA Finals, Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report proposed a trade involving the Celtics and Portland Trail Blazers that would give the Celtics the ability to win now while also developing some young talent. Swartz proposed the following in his deal.

Boston Celtics receive: Anfrenee Simons, Nassir Little, 2023 first-round pick (No. 3 overall)

Portland Trail Blazers receive: Jaylen Brown

“Simons becomes an immediate starter in Boston after averaging 21.1 points per game this season, taking over Brown’s sidekick role. Little can defend multiple positions and the Celtics can shop the No. 3 overall pick in the draft for some win-now help alongside Jayson Tatum, Simons, Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Malcolm Brogdon, Al Horford, Robert Williams III and others,” Swartz wrote.

Swartz called Brown “the perfect addition to this roster, able to be a secondary scoring option to Damian Lillard while playing strong defense on the wing.”

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