Tristan Thompson Potential Trades

                                                  

    -@threalmattmoney

    After the move to acquire Al Horford, Tristan Thompson is now the third best center on this Celtics roster. I imagine he would want to go to a place where he would have a significant role and a place that would be competitive. Clearly Thompson doesn't have a ton of leverage here, but it is probably wise not to piss off Rich Paul. There aren't a ton of teams that fit the criteria for a good landing spot for Thompson, but I was able to find a few. 

Trade #1

Portland Trailblazers- This trade is may be fairly unlikely, but Jusuf Nurkic has expressed his displeasure with role on the Blazers, no I don't think Nurkic would be good fit, but it would cause Portland to have a vacancy at the starting center position. There is a young player on the Trailblazers, who I think is attainable that would really help the Celtics. His name is Derrick Jones Jr. He is a guy who plays both forward positions, who can defend at a high level and has improved his shooting steadily throughout his career. I think Portland likes him, but maybe Jones winds up being the odd man out in the Portland rotation. Maybe Portland would be willing to do this trade straight up, but maybe we have to attach a low value asset as well. 

Trade #2

Los Angeles Lakers- The only real reason for this is Lebron has a good relationship with Tristan, he is a Klutch client and the Lakers' centers were very disappointing this season. Marc Gasol looked old, Andre Drummond looked like well.... Andre Drummond, and Montrezl Harrell was glued to the bench for most of the playoffs. So maybe they look to try to rebuild on the fly around Lebron & AD. Aside from those two, only KCP & Kuzma have any sort of money on the books for the future. I think after last year the Lakers and Bron don't consider Kuzma a core piece going forward. So in comes Tristan Thompson, once again I don't think it would be a straight up deal for the reason that Kuzma has much more value than Thompson at this point in their careers. Even parting with a 2nd or two or maybe someone like Grant or Romeo wouldn't be the end of the world, although I would definitely prefer to keep Romeo. So maybe Thompson, Grant, a 2nd for Kuzma? I think it could be beneficial for both sides. 

    The choices are slim, but these two options seem reasonable and beneficial for all teams involved. Thompson still definitely has some productive years left and could provide value for teams in desperate need of a center. 

 Kemba Walker Trade Hypotheticals

                                                       

-@threalmattmoney

  I am still very unsure whether or not the rumors of the Celtics and Kemba Walker wanting to mutually part ways is true, but if it is we should begin to explore some of the possibilities we could get in exchange for him. Kemba is still a high level basketball player, probably only a tier below all-star but his contract exceeds his production. That is why it is very unlikely that we are going to be able to get a player or players of equal production in return. I have laid out three possibilities that make sense for both the Celtics and the other teams involved. 

Trade #1

New Orleans Pelicans-

    I imagine the Pelicans are going to want to begin competing quickly with Zion already playing as an All-NBA talent. They have a couple contracts they may want to get rid of, and its unlikely they will be able to resign all of their restricted free agents. I'm sure they would want spacing around Zion and Kemba could provide that. This deal would look like Steven Adams (2/35mil) plus a sign and trade involving Josh Hart with a contract ~14mil per year. preferably on a 2 year deal so we have some easily tradable contracts who can also provide help now as well as cap flexibility in a few years. Outgoing we would likely have Kemba Walker and possibly Grant Williams, a big who could theoretically space alongside Zion. Once again certainly not a perfect deal, but we get a proven NBA wing in Hart and a big physical center to guard guys like Embiid. 

Trade #2

Oklahoma City Thunder-

This trade brings a familiar face back home in Al Horford. This trade is probably my least favorite out of the three, because I think we get the least talent in return and we more than likely will have to give up a 1st and probably at minimum another 2nd. Why this makes sense for the Celtics is that Horford's deal is one year shorter and it provides a big who is known for being able to defend Embiid well. It would most certainly suck paying our backup center 27 mil, but it allows us a lot more cap and roster flexibility going forward. In this trade, like the trade above I am assuming if this trade is completed there will be a subsequent trade sending Thompson away. So in all this trade would likely look like Walker, 1st, 2 2nds<===>Horford.

Trade #3

Clippers/Cavaliers- This one is my favorite, it is also one that has a lot of moving parts. This probably only happens if the Clippers flame out once again and both PG and Kawhi stay. They clearly need another scorer on this team and Kemba could fill that roll either as a 6th man or in the starting lineup. The Clippers will be sending Patrick Beverly to the Celtics, and Luke Kennard and a 1st to the Cavs. Patrick Beverly is a fine defender, but is needed to make the money work and is by no means a centerpiece to this team. Kennard is a fine shooter, but on a big deal and has had multiple games this playoff without leaving the bench. They also will receive two 2nds from the Celtics. The Cavs will be sending Nance and Osman to the Celtics. Losing Nance will hurt, but they are getting a lot of compensation in form of draft picks. The Celtics will be giving the Cavs Romeo Langford and 2 1sts, and they will be giving the Clippers 2 2nds and Kemba. The Celtics get a lot more roster flexibility and cap from these moves and now have a very well rounded team. Their depth chart at the end of this deal would look like PG: Beverly, Pritchard, SG: Smart, Fournier, SF: Brown, Nesmith, PF: Tatum, Nance, C: Williams, Thompson. This team should certainly be an elite defensive team, with enough scoring to compete with the top competition. The roster may have less talent without Walker, but one could argue the roster is constructed much better than last year's.