Celtics Trade Idea Lands Team Top-Tier Center

Should the Boston Celtics start looking for reinforcements? They started this year with zero expectations. Jayson Tatum was set to miss most, if not all, of the season recovering from an Achilles tear. Many believed that the Celtics could use their unique opportunity to tank the season in order to add another young prospect to their roster. 

However, now there may be more options. The Celtics are currently the 4th seed in the East, and Tatum could be returning before the season is over. Should the Celtics look at possibly making a trade to strengthen their roster for a late-season run?

Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report proposed “1 Trade Every NBA Team Would Make If the Deadline Was Today,” and his trade for the Celtics had Boston landing Myles Turner. 

“The trade: Anfernee Simons, Josh Minott, 2026 second-round pick (via DET, MIL or ORL) and 2031 first-round pick (top-3 protected) to the Milwaukee Bucks for Myles Turner

The Celtics are leaving it "all up to" Jayson Tatum when he returns from the Achilles tear he suffered in May, coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters. They're part of this process, then, and should be providing Tatum with a team capable of high-level competition whenever that happens.

If Boston has a sense that Tatum can come back during this campaign, then it has to address its underwhelming mix of centers. Aiming for a prize as rich as Turner would be costly, but having someone who can anchor the defensive interior and improve the offensive spacing is an awfully rich reward.”

Picking up a player like Turner isn’t a terrible idea, but the Celtics already have their center for the future. Would Turner be comfortable taking a back seat to Neemias Queta? Could the two play side by side? 

With more and more teams leaning on size and two-big lineups, the combination of Turner and Queta could be very useful. While this Celtics trade idea is certainly interesting, Turner probably shouldn't be the top priority trade target for Boston.