Celtics Floated As Smart Landing Spot For Impressive Shooting Guard

The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away, and the Boston Celtics are expected to be active before it closes on Feb. 5. Joe Mazzulla’s team has defied expectations so far this season, as it currently finds itself second in the Eastern Conference in what was supposed to be a gap year.

Therefore, there’s a growing hope that Boston will look to improve the roster for the second half of the season, with one eye on a potentially deep postseason run.

According to Sam LaFrance on FanSided’s Hardwood Houdini, one player who could make sense as a ‘buy-low option’ is Keon Ellis of the Sacramento Kings.

“If there’s any franchise that would be easy to win a trade against, it’s the Kings,” LaFrance wrote. “Sacramento has been in basketball purgatory for the majority of the past 20 years. Their current squad is basically the Play-In Chicago Bulls team from the early 2020s….Any potential trade would have to involve one of Boston’s minimum contracts, likely Chris Boucher, who hasn’t played since November. The financials aren’t the problem; again, it’s the added draft capital that would be a holdup.”

ESPN’s Anthony Slater has reported that Ellis has fans around the NBA, primarily in front office and scouting circles.

“Ellis is on an expiring $2.3 million deal and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, but he is extension-eligible on Feb. 9 and has plenty of fans across the front office and scouting community,” Slater wrote. “Ellis is a disruptive defender who has made 41.6% of his career 3s and is viewed as obtainable. The Kings have taken plenty of calls on him, team sources said, but they haven’t ruled out keeping him around and trying to work out an extension. “

Boston has done well in unearthing hidden gems this season. Luka Garza, Josh Minott and rookie Hugo Gonzalez all joined the team to limited fanfare during the summer; however, all three have played a sizeable role in Boston’s hot start to the season.

Whether Stevens would be willing to roll the dice on Ellis remains to be seen. Nevertheless, he would fit the Celtics’ remit of buying young cost-controlled talent and developing them into valuable contributors.

Yet, with Ellis on an expiring deal, the Celtics would need confidence in tying him down to a team-friendly contract extension, and that may be enough to encourage Boston to look elsewhere in the trade market.