The Boston Celtics have flexibility ahead of the NBA trading deadline, March 25, thanks to the $ 28.5 million exception they received in exchange for sending Gordon Hayward to Charlotte Hornets.
The question is how they will use it.
Several names have been singled out as potential commercial targets, but Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix explained on Thursday on NBC Sports Boston’s “Early Edition” program that the Celtics should call the New Orleans Pelicans about a veteran who is open to negotiations.
“I’m still obsessed with JJ Redick,” said Mannix. “You talk about a player who has been tested in battles with experience in the playoffs who can shoot the basketball.”
Redick, the 11th overall choice in 2006, is a little time consuming. He turns 37 in June and is currently in his 15th NBA season. It is fair to imagine how much gas is left in the tank.
There is no denying Redick’s skill in shooting, however, and Mannix believes the Duke product is more than capable of staying on the defensive end of the Brad Stevens system.
“How many guys rolled around Boston who couldn’t defend a lick before they got there and the Celtics still have a defense in the top five in this league,” said Mannix. “Was Isaiah Thomas some kind of defensive stopper? Evan Turner played great minutes for Brad Stevens, he was not a great defensive player at all. They find ways to get the guys to work as team defenders. And JJ Redick has been around long enough to be a great team defender. “
Of course, acquiring Redick may not be enough to put the Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference. But it is a start.
Celtics basketball operations president Danny Ainge on Thursday identified “shooting with size” as Boston’s biggest need during shopping, with the exception of business. And although Redick, six feet tall, is not the oldest guy, he definitely marks the second box.
The worst thing the Celtics could do, in Mannix’s opinion, is to sit idly by the end of the negotiation deadline, without making a fuss to increase their list around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“What I don’t want to happen is that this team meets the negotiation deadline and that we have the same conversation about ‘Well, there really wasn’t much out there’ and that negotiation exception expires,” Mannix said. “This is an incredibly valuable business exception. You don’t have to absorb a bad contract to get one. You have to take advantage of that if it’s the Celtics. If that means playing a protected choice in the first round, I don’t care, you do. Whether it’s Harrison Barnes or JJ Redick, you make something happen. “
The commercial exception – the largest in NBA history – expires in November and can be used to acquire multiple players.
Miniature photo via Chuck Cook / USA TODAY Sports Images