Boston Celtics is involved in a lot of trade rumor talks during the offseason. That's because they are still searching for another big time player to complete their line-up.
On paper, it seems like the Boston Celtics are in the top 2 or 3 in the Eastern Conference. But many thought that they are still not good enough to dethrone King James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers in their two-year reign as Eastern Conference Champions.
With Isaiah Thomas and Al Hordford leading the charge for the Boston Celtics this 2016-2017 NBA season, they are still in search for one more big time player who could help them carry the mission of dethroning the 2016 NBA Champs Cleveland Cavaliers.
According to Christian Post, here are the top players who might land in Boston: Jahlil Okafor of the Philadephia 76ers, Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans and Jimmy Fredette of the Shanghai Sharks of Chinese Basketball Association.
In this article, let's examine their possibility one-by-one.
1. Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans to Boston Celtics
There were rumors that Anthony Davis might be traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown and Amir Johnson, per iTechPost.
Davis played all of his four NBA seasons with the Pelicans where he averaged 20.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.4 blocks in 260 NBA games. He also earned three All-Star selections, All-NBA First Team and NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 2015.
If Davis would be a member of the Boston Celtics, he would team up with fellow All-Star Al Horford to form one of the best frontcourts in the NBA. Although this trade is legal, I doubt if it's gonna happen.
Davis is the Pelican's franchise player. At 23 years of age and only in his 5th year in the league, Davis is still maturing as an NBA player. And Pelicans is not a rebuilding team. They are with those teams that battle for playoff positions.
As much as I want to see Davis in a Celtics uniform, I doubt that the Pelicans will make this deal.
2. Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers to Boston Celtics
With Joel Embiid now healthy for the Sixers, the team now has three frontcourt players that are capable of a starting position job. But as we know, two frontcourt positions are only available. Embiid will surely stay. But rumors say that either Nerlens Noel or Jahlil Okafor needs to be traded.
Both Noel and Okafor has been involved with a lot of trade rumors in the past few months. But many analysts say that Okafor is most likely to be traded.
According to University Herald, Jahlil Okafor might be traded to Boston Celtics. If this trade will happen, the Celtics will have an additional big man who has is very skilled offensively. The Sixers will also benefit from this trade since they can focus on developing the frontcourt partnership of Embiid and Noel.
This is a win-win situation for both teams.
3. Jimmy Fredette of the Shanghai Sharks to Boston Celtics
Jimmy Fredette is a very good player in college. He averaged 28.9 points/game in his senior year at BYU Cougars. On January 28, 2011, Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors tweeted, ""Jimmer Fredette is the best scorer in the world!", per Wikipedia.
But when he came into the NBA, he struggled. In his 235 NBA games, he averaged 6.0 points, 1.0 rebound and 1.4 assist while playing at only 13.4 minutes per game.
I think the Boston Celtics could sign Fredette. He is a scorer. And being a sixth man for the Celtics fit him. He can provide that offense while the starters are resting. Although he struggled in NBA, he probably just needs around 20 minutes per game to be efficient.
Signing him to Boston Celtics is not a bad idea after all.
