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Thursday afternoon, The Athletic’s Jay King reported that guard Payton Pritchard wishes to move on from the Boston Celtics this offseason. Should Brad Stevens and company look to adhere to the 25-year-old’s desires, Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz believes one specific trade with the Utah Jazz should be on the table.
The proposed trade reads as follows:
Boston Celtics receive: Kelly Olynyk
Utah Jazz receive: Payton Pritchard, Danilo Gallinari
Considering the club’s lackluster shooting production during their postseason run, specifically in the Eastern Conference Finals where they converted on a putrid 30.3% of their attempts from deep, Swartz suggests that a main point of emphasis for this Celtics front office should be to add on more competent snipers to their talent collection.
This hypothetical trade for Boston’s own former lottery-selected talent in Kelly Olynyk is believed to be a worthwhile move that would accomplish such a goal.
“Olynyk makes his return to Boston a year after putting up 12.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists and shooting 39.4 percent in Utah. He’d be the ideal third big for this roster behind Al Horford and Robert Williams III. The point guard-needy Jazz should have interest in Pritchard entering the final year of his rookie deal. If the 25-year-old works out, Utah will have the right to make him a restricted free agent next summer. Gallinari can help out if he’s completely recovered from a torn ACL. If there are any setbacks, his $6.8 million player option runs out in 2024,” Swartz wrote.
This proposal not only would bring Kelly Olynyk back to the Celtics, but it would also reunite Payton Pritchard with Utah’s CEO of basketball operations and alternate governor Danny Aigne, who drafted the point guard back in the 2020 NBA Draft while serving as Boston’s president of basketball operations.
NBA Legend Wants Celtics to Pay Jaylen Brown
After putting forth an All-NBA campaign in 2022-23, coming into the offseason Jaylen Brown is now able to receive a lucrative $295 million supermax extension with the Celtics.
Despite his eligibility to land such a payday, however, there has been a number of conversations over whether Boston should pull the trigger on shelling out such an offer in the wing’s direction.
Recently, NBA legend Tracy McGrady chimed in on the financial quagmire plaguing the C’s during a recent appearance on “What’s Burnin’,” and suggested that perhaps their best course of action would be to simply commit to paying their dynamic duo of Brown and Jayson Tatum top-dollar deals.
“You don’t dismantle that,” McGrady said. “You keep that. 25- and 26-year-old. Why would you get rid of that? I don’t understand why would you get rid of two guys that have played for an NBA championship, right? (They) went to four Eastern Conference Finals. At some point, these guys are going to raise a banner. LeBron is on his way out. Steph is getting older. (Kevin Durant) and those guys are getting older. These guys (Tatum and Brown) are 25 and 26 years old. You’re not going to find a better duo than these two.”
Should the Celtics opt to pay Jaylen Brown the supermax, they would have roughly $600 million committed to just him and Tatum, who inked a five-year, $163 million extension with the franchise that started in 2021.
Brad Stevens Opens Up on Jaylen Brown’s Future
During his end-of-season press conference held Thursday, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens commented on Jaylen Brown’s future with the franchise, noting that the Celtics do, in fact, wish to have him stay in Beantown.
“I’ve had nothing but great conversations with Jaylen,” Stevens told reporters. “Without a doubt, we want Jaylen to be here, and he’s a big part of us. We believe in him, and I’m thankful for him.”
Through 67 games played, the two-time All-Star finished off the 2022-23 campaign boasting averages of 26.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.5 rebounds while shooting 49.1% from the field.
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