Rejected Boston Celtics trade attempt sets tough tone for trade deadline

The Boston Celtics are trying. They want to make a trade. They have the assets to do something meaningful, but they are also quite disciplined in their approach. Brad Stevens is willing to spend to acquire someone, but he’s not going to get fleeced.

We know their priority is upgrading their center position. Neemias Queta has been a wonderful surprise for the Celtics this season, but adding a starting-level center and pushing him to the bench would give the Celtics a strong frontcourt rotation.

There has been some noise connecting Boston to centers around the NBA, but one name keeps popping up: LA Clippers center Ivica Zubac. He is a two-way center who has averaged a double-double the past two seasons while making an All-Defensive Team last year. He makes $18 million this season and is under contract for two more years, so he’d be under team control until his early 30s. He fits exactly what Boston is looking for at a reasonable price.

But while the contract might be reasonable for Boston, the asking price might be an issue. Mike Scotto of Hoopshype reports the Celtics have already tried to deal for Zubac, but it didn’t go anywhere.

“When the Clippers were struggling with a 6-21 record to begin the season, the Celtics inquired about an exploratory framework around Simons, a first-round pick, and a future first-round pick swap for Ivica Zubac and salary filler, which didn’t gain any traction,” he reported.

Simons, a first-round pick, and a first-round swap is probably as deep as Boston wants to dig for a trade. They are not going to mortgage their future by trading away too many picks because they don’t know how much longer they’ll be able to keep their Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown-centered championship window pried open.

And while they have assets to get a deal done, they don’t have so many assets that they can get multiple deals done. After the Simons-plus-picks offer that will be out there for anyone with a suitable option at center, they cross over into borderline desperation territory. The next contract similar to Simons’ is Derrick White, and moving him will only be an option if they dip into the Jon Horst playbook in Milwaukee when he was trying to make Giannis Antetokounmpo happy.

That's another discussion for another time. For now, the rejection of this Zubac framework is a bit of foreboding for this upcoming deadline. There are still other options out there for Boston, but the dream of an obvious starting-level center might be fading. If the Clippers balked at that deal for Zubac then, their price has only gone up … and that's IF they are even entertaining moves after their recent success.

The Celtics may have to turn their attention to the Day’Ron Sharpe, Yves Missi types, which isn’t the sexiest move for fans to consider, but also isn’t the worst thing in the world, either. Missi is averaging a double-double over his first two seasons in New Orleans.

He’s on a rookie deal, which is both good and bad. On the plus side, at $3.3 million, he’s cheap. On the negative side, his value is higher than his contract, so giving the Pelicans something they want might be tough. And also, can he be a long-term starter, or is he good enough that a Celtics team with Tatum, Brown, White, and Simons remaining to come off the bench (assuming he re-signs) remains a contender?

The bottom line here is that while Simons-plus-picks is the go-to for people talking about Celtics trades, that might not be good enough to get a deal done. From there, Boston has two other tracks to take. They can move to a lesser-known center, or they can go big-game hunting as the third team in on someone else’s trade for a big name like Antetokounmpo. Either way, Brad Stevens will probably have to get more creative than we’ve thought.