The Boston Celtics have made the playoffs 13 of the last 14 seasons and they won a title in this span, but they have not looked like a dominant team in the NBA this season. Currently just 23-20 on the season, the Celtics find themselves as the 10-seed in the Eastern Conference even though they are 5.5 games back from first-place. 

The Eastern Conference is packed with talented teams this season and as a result, there is very little room for error, especially for a team like Boston that does not have much talent and depth on their roster. 

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are two All-Star talents on this roster, but inconsistent play from Marcus Smart, Josh Richardson, Al Horford and the league’s third-worst scoring bench has really hurt the Celtics’ chances of being special this year. 

On Tuesday night, Boston’s front-office began their trade season by striking a deal with the Spurs and the Nuggets, a deal in which the Celtics traded Juan Hernangomez and his $6.1M contract this season to San Antonio in exchange for Bol Bol and P.J. Dozier from Denver. 

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In this deal, the Celtics took on two players who are sidelined due to injuries, but they are also on expiring contracts. Not to mention, Boston moves closer to being under the luxury tax line this season and create a $6.9M TPE for themselves. 

Already having a $17.1M TPE and a $9.7M TPE from prior trades made in the offseason, the Celtics seem to be gearing up to make some kind of a big play at the trade deadline in about three weeks time (Feb. 10). 

Making the playoffs is still very much in play for the Celtics this season even though they find themselves as the 10-seed in the East, but they are going to have to try and find some more consistency on the offensive end of the floor.