It’s getting to the time of year when trade rumors start to heat up. Shams Charania of ESPN, Marc Stein of The Stein Line, and others will start dropping tidbits about which teams want to make moves and which players could be available. But the Boston Celtics don’t usually end up in those types of articles.
Charania just dropped a huge article of information, highlighted by plot points about the New Orleans Pelicans, Golden State Warriors, and Miami Heat. There have even been some rumors floating about the Cleveland Cavaliers wanting to make moves on the fringes, the New York Knicks looking to add a big man, and the Houston Rockets exploring some options.
But there’s almost never anything about the Celtics.
The Celtics don't need to make trades
Boston is in a tier of their own for a multitude of reasons, all of which can be sieved out by looking through the rumblings that come about ahead of trade deadline season.
The Celtics have the closest thing to a perfect roster in the NBA. They don’t need to worry about making big-swing moves like the Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, or Milwaukee Bucks because they are already winning at the highest level.
At the same time, a team like the Cavs, the only squad above the Celtics in the East, doesn’t have the past proof to feel comfortable completely ignoring the trade market. They probably won’t make any huge moves, but their eliteness is such a new phenomenon that trade rumors aren’t off the table.
On top of that, there is the financial side of things. As a second-apron team, there isn’t much that Boston can do without trading one of their rotation players, which they certainly don’t plan on doing this year.
Because of that, the only thing the Celtics could do at the deadline this year is dump a contract (likely Jaden Springer’s) in order to free up some flexibility. But that’s not enough to make waves in the rumor mill past people reporting on the possibility.
The only other team in the league that might not end up being heavily involved in the trade landscape is the Oklahoma City Thunder, and even they have room to make roster improvements around the edges.
All of the trade rumors floating around at the moment prove that the Celtics are in a league of their own. Trades aren’t coming for the Celtics—because of the money and because they just don’t need to.