The Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic appear to be continuing to hammer away at a potential Aaron Gordon trade.
There have been many iterations of the package already. At one point, Marcus Smart and two first-round picks would go to the Magic for Gordon and Evan Fournier, but now Smart reportedly is off the table.
The latest version of the trade, according to the Boston Herald's Mark Murphy, involves players and picks.
"Per source: Celtics talks with Orlando re: Aaron Gordon 'still alive, but everyone does everything at last minute,' Murphy tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "Celtics offering first-round pick and a young player - not Marcus Smart - and are trying not to include (a second first-round) pick in the deal."
This obviously makes much more sense than a deal involving Smart. Boston has had issues scoring off the bench this season, and getting rid of a valuable piece like Smart wouldn't do much to help the Celtics' issues -- even if it meant getting Gordon, and potentially even Fournier in return. The Magic, it's worth noting, might've even lost some leverage over the last 24 hours with Gordon point blank admitting he wants a trade.
As for which young players the Celtics could offer, one has to think it would be Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, Romeo Langford, Aaron Nesmith or Peyton Pritchard. Robert Williams might fall into that category, but it seems like the Celtics would be really reticent to move him. Of that group though, Grant Williams and Pritchard likely are the most appealing to Orlando.
The trade deadline is Thursday, and it sounds like things could be busy between now and the horn sounding.
