Why This Trade Makes Sense For The Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics have been on the verge of making the NBA Finals for the last four seasons, as they have lost in the Eastern Conference Finals three times in the last four years. A lot of the blame definitely has to go on the Boston Celtics’ bench as management has constantly put a lot of money into the starting rotation, but has never given head coach Brad Stevens a reliable, solid bench to work with.

Last season, the Celtics had the 2nd worst bench in the NBA in terms of scoring per game and so far this year, things are not much better. Cutting ties with Marcus Smart now and being able to get two key players could be exactly what this team needs to push themselves into the NBA Finals and could be what they need to finally win another championship. 

So far this year, Boston’s bench is bottom ten in the league and the bench will not get better anytime soon unless they make a trade to add some depth. Williams and Kennard are experienced, key role players who can contribute immediately for the Celtics and each contribute in different ways to take pressure off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Lou Williams is the all-time scorer off-the-bench in NBA history and has won the Sixth-Man of the Year award three different times. He is getting older and is not as productive as he once was, but could actually complement Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kemba Walker. He knows how to play besides superstar players and is more than capable of creating plays for himself and the rest of the team. 

Luke Kennard on the other-hand is not a crafty playmaker, but is a great three-point shooting specialist. He is currently shooting 44.6% from three-point range this season and has shot over 40% for his career from long-range. Boston is one of the better three-point shooting teams in the league and adding to their repertoire of perimeter talent could make them even more difficult to guard. 

While they would take a hit defensively trading away Marcus Smart, this team really needs to add bench depth and bench scorers, which is what they would be doing in this trade. It makes a ton of sense for the Celtics to target two double-digit scorers in their pursuit of a championship.