Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is on the clock with Thursday’s NBA trade deadline quickly approaching.
And while the C’s haven’t been linked to anything beyond a few small-name big men across the league ahead of the 3 p.m. ET deadline, it appears as though Boston’s front office is weighing its options before time is up.
The Celtics are shopping the trade value of guard Payton Pritchard and forward Danilo Gallinari together in a potential package swap, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports. Boston’s aim behind exploring the market of Pritchard and Gallinari is to unveil the possible options that match their combined salaries of over $9.2 million annually.
In the weeks ahead of the deadline, Stevens revealed that Boston was taking a leave-no-stone-unturned approach despite its NBA-best record of 38-16 as of Thursday. Plus with the support of team owner Wyc Grousbeck having given Steven the nod to go all in, the Celtics could be in the midst of a trade to further support their NBA Finals hopes.
“I think what is more likely is evaluating how to fortify your depth, how to make sure you are as foolproof as possible,” Stevens said, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg.
Both Pritchard and Gallinari have undergone their respective struggles to find their strides this season. Pritchard, who wouldn’t oppose the idea of being traded, has played a career-low 12.6 minutes through 38 games played thus far for Boston. Meanwhile, Gallinari remains in recovery mode with hopes of a return to the court following the second torn ACL of his career.
If dealt, a few names that have been linked to the Celtics are centers Mo Bamba (Orlando Magic) and Jakob Poeltl (San Antonio Spurs).
