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Free agency has been open for five days, but the Boston Celtics have yet to reach a contract agreement with Grant Williams or Jaylen Brown.
Celtics fans are growing weary knowing that the franchise could allow Williams to leave during the offseason, with the team potentially getting nothing in return. According to The Athletic’s Tim Cato, Boston could look to orchestrate a sign-and-trade with Williams – and he wrote that the Dallas Mavericks could be the ideal trade partner.
Cato proposed a trade that would look something like this:
Celtics get: Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee
Mavericks get: Grant Williams
“One potentially ideal conclusion to the Mavericks’ summer could involve a sign-and-trade for Boston Celtics restricted free agent forward Grant Williams and a salary dump involving Hardaway and McGee,” Cato wrote in a story published July 3. “Curry could then be signed through the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, with the remainder of that ($7.9 million) then being used in an offer sheet for Portland restricted free agent Matisse Thybulle. That’s all theoretically possible, and Dallas’ interest in Williams, which was first reported by The Athletic in June, remains strong.”
Should Boston decide to travel down the sign-and-trade route, they would need to ensure Williams’ new contract is large enough to match the salaries of any incoming players. Hardaway Jr. is entering the third year of his four-year, $75 million contract and is set to pocket $17.8 million in the upcoming season, while McGee will take home $5.7 million.
As such, Williams would likely need to sign a deal in the region of $20 million a year, which would certainly be seen as an overpay.
Celtics Could Allow Damian Lillard to Contend
According to Bill Simmons, the Celtics may give Damian Lillard his best chance to contend for a championship in the coming years.
“I don’t see a trade, other than the Miami trade — which I don’t think is going to happen — that will propel him to some sort of, ‘Oh, now he’s on the cusp,’ unless it’s the Celtics,” Simmons said on the July 3 episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast.” “Now, Jaylen Brown can sign for this extension in five minutes, and this will be moot, but I just keep circling that trade wondering: It’s starting to make more and more sense to me.”
Lillard has been widely reported to favor a move to the Miami Heat. However, team president Pat Riley might not have the necessary assets to entice the Portland Trail Blazers to part with their superstar point guard, according to The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.
Celtics Unlikely to Trade Malcolm Brogdon
Although the Celtics tried to trade Malcolm Brogdon to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of a deal to acquire Kristaps Porzinigis, it now appears Boston will be keeping the reigning Sixth Man of the Year around for the upcoming season, according to The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.
In a June 30 story, Himmelsbach reported that Boston was “comfortable” heading into the new season with Brogdon as part of their roster.
“The injury could still require surgery, but Brogdon is expected to be ready for the start of the season regardless, sources said,” Himmelsbach wrote. “A league source said Friday that the Celtics are not currently looking to trade Malcolm Brogdon and that they are comfortable bringing the reigning Sixth Man of the Year back in that role next season.”
Boston general manager Brad Stevens has been busy adding new faces to the Celtics rotation during the summer, with a clear remit to add size and length – acquiring Porzingis, Oshae Brissett and Dalano Banton, all of whom boast significant wing spans. It will now be interesting to see how Joe Mazzulla looks to deploy his rotations and how big a role Brogdon has moving forward.
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