It’s almost draft day, which means that trade rumors will be flying around left and right. The Boston Celtics are one team that are very likely to be active in trade talks, as the team is on record as saying that they want to be very active this offseason. Danny Ainge also told Gary Washburn today that he Celtics are trying to move up in the draft using both of their first-round picks, and that there should be “a lot of movement on draft night.”
Apparently, the Celtics aren’t waiting until draft night to make trade offers. From Broderick Turner of The LA Times:
League executives also said the Celtics were trying to move up in the draft, using their two first-round picks and two second-round picks as bait.
The executives said the Celtics were looking to trade point guard Marcus Smart and the Nos. 16 and 28 picks in the first round to Philadelphia for center/forward Nerlens Noel and the No. 3 pick. But the 76ers, the executives said, weren’t interested.
This is an interesting trade offer. Marcus Smart definitely showed his value in Boston in his rookie season, showing off his tough defense, performance in crunch time, and general high-intensity play. The fact that the Celtics would be willing to part with Smart shows that GM Danny Ainge holds this year’s draft class(and Nerlens Noel) in very high esteem.
The Sixers rejected their offer, despite the fact that Marcus Smart would fill a positional hole for the team. The 76ers need a point guard, and if they don’t want Smart, perhaps they’ll draft D’Angelo Russell, who had a great workout with them. However, Russell reportedly doesn’t want to go to Philly, which may complicate things for the Sixers. The team has also reportedly been considering Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian 7-footer.
The Celtics are likely to make a move on draft night, at least if Danny Ainge has his way. There have been reports that the Celtics want to trade up for Myles Turner or Willie Cauley-Stein, but I wonder who they would have taken at the no. 3 pick if Philadelphia had agreed to the trade. Assuming Okafor and Towns were off the board already, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see the team go after Porzingis, as they have room in the frontcourt. D’Angelo Russell would have been the probable pick, however, as they would have traded away current point guard Marcus Smart and acquired a new big man in Nerlens Noel if the deal had gone through.
