Thursday 9th February saw the window for trades finally come to a close and with the trade deadline saw a lot of big trades, some people expected, others that caught us off guard. Like the Brooklyn Nets shipping out both Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks before also sending Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns. Not only that but the Los Angeles Lakers sent Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz and re-acquired D’Angelo Russell in return, as well as Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt.
Today we’re going to be looking at the trades of one team in particular however, the Boston Celtics. The Celtics made a few interesting decisions at the deadline that a lot of people weren’t expecting. We’re going to take a look at who they signed as well as some of the players they failed to sign or decided wouldn’t be worth signing in the long run, before we do a little bit of a summary of how we think they’re looking moving toward the rest of the season.
Mike Muscala now sees himself repping the green of the Boston Celtics. How will his next move go?
Source: MassLive
The big one for the Celtics was the swap of Justin Jackson and TWO, second round picks over to Oklahoma City Thunder, in return the Celtics received Mike Muscala. The Celtics did take the bigger hit here though adding on about $1.7million to the deal through salary which, including everything from luxury tax penalties etc will end up adding roughly $6.3million, it could prove to be an issue but for now it seems to be okay. Suppose we’ll find out in due course whether this will become a major problem!
The next one isn’t so much a trade but more a trade that the Celtics opted out of. A total of 29 teams contacted the Brooklyn Nets to enquire about a trade for Kevin Durant. Some of you may remember that the Celtics were also in for Durant in the offseason, but they were firm on not moving from their previous offer and because the Nets wanted more, the Celtics pulled out of this deal. Durant could have made a great addition to the Celtics but, would having one more big name like him have proved too much? You guys know the saying, too many cooks spoil the broth, right?
Another player the Celtics also attempted to do business for was Jakob Poeltl from the San Antonio Spurs, they previously attempted this at the back end of December however again, they weren’t seeing eye to eye on the price involved. San Antonio wanted a first round pick, Payton Pritchard AND Danilo Gallinari and realistically that wasn’t on the cards. As for the only names mentioned in the outgoing list on deadline day, there were a few teams got in touch about Grant Williams but the Celtics have gone on record as saying they didn’t get a single offer that came close to their valuation of the player.
So, following the trade deadline, it’s going to be interesting to see how the experts feel the rest of this season will go. Do they think the recent trade deadline will affect the way things are going to pan out? Or are things pretty much set in stone at this point? To check that we’re going to be taking a look at the experts at the sportsbooks to look at what odds they’re giving for conference titles, playoff places as well as the holy grail of basketball itself, the NBA Championship.
Luckily for Massachusetts fans, retail sports wagering was legalised in the state Jan 31 this 2023, whilst online betting will go live in early March. This means fans will be looking into all the movements, odds and predictions that follow the state teams with plenty of MA betting promos soon to be made available for Celtic Fans to use. Starting with the conference titles, we’ll be taking a look at the top 3 for each of these. For the eastern conference the top 3 favourites are the Boston Celtics at +140 returning $12 from a $5 stake, the Milwaukee Bucks are +210 returning $15.50 and the Philadelphia 76ers are +550 returning $32.50. For the Western conference the top 3 are the Phoenix Suns at +190 returning $14.50, the Denver Nuggets at +300 returning $20 and the Los Angeles Clippers at +500 returning $30.
Next are the top 5 favourites for the NBA Championship. Starting with the Celtics who are in first place, you can get them at +325 to go all the way and lift the Championship in June, which would see a return of $21.25. The Phoenix Suns are at +400 in second place, returning $25. In third place you will find the Milwaukee Bucks at +500 returning $30. Fourth place are the Denver Nuggets coming in at +700 with a return of $40 and then to cap off the top 5 favourites are the Los Angeles Clippers at +1100 returning $60. All returns based on a stake of $5!
The Celtics last won a championship in 2008, can they repeat that fate this season? They will at least be looking to make it back to back finals!
Source: Boston.com
So, to summarise. We think that the business the Celtics have done will help bolster their charge toward NBA Gold this season. They didn’t do a lot of business but honestly, they didn’t really need to do a lot of business, their roster is already very good and realistically, it isn’t worth making trades just for the sake of doing trades in my opinion, if the right players aren’t available, the players that will take your team to the next level, then you should absolutely wait until the next window to do that business.
Now for some general questions starting with an easy one, how do you guys feel about the business your team has done over the trade window? Are there any names you wish they had picked up? Anyone they picked up that you’re questioning why they have been picked up? It’s fair to say that sometimes players are only picked up to be used as trade fodder in the future. Unfortunate situation to be in as a player that one, surely. The only thing that remains to be said, is that we’re only a few months away from the playoffs now and there is plenty of basketball left to be played, so until next time folks, take care!
