Boston Celtics Eyeing Domantas Sabonis Trade?
Finding a third All-Star to pair with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum is obviously the number one goal of the Celtics’ front-office right now, but there are very few of these kinds of players available this season. The one big name that comes to mind for Boston that has popped up in trade rumors recently is Domantas Sabonis.
There are fans of Sabonis within the Celtics’ organization and the idea of fitting him in the frontcourt next to Robert Williams III is definitely appealing for Boston because of the fact that Domantas Sabonis is one of the best offensive rebounders in the league.
Having two powerful, impactful rebounders in Sabonis and Williams could make the Celtics one of the best second-chance scoring teams in the league and already have two of the most dynamic scorers in Tatum and Brown, the Pacers’ All-Star could be the missing piece in Boston’s championship puzzle.
However, the Pacers’ asking price for Domantas Sabonis is set very high right now and they are asking for an All-Star-level player in return over draft picks. Indiana’s president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard talked with The Athletic last month and stated, “What we’ve done in the past when we traded Paul (George) and Victor (Oladipo), in both cases it was we didn’t value picks as much as we valued players that could help us and then we felt like they had upside…”
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The Pacers are receptive to trade talks surrounding Domantas Sabonis, in addition to Myles Turner and Caris LeVert, but it is hard to imagine that Boston could strike a deal without giving up Jaylen Brown in this trade. A package of Marcus Smart, Al Horford and some young talents presents value, but not the right kind of value Indiana is wanting at this time.
A Domantas Sabonis trade could check off a lot of boxes for the Celtics, but the chances of acquiring him are very low for Indiana. This pursuit of Sabonis and interest in him though has opened up the possibility of the Celtics trading both Marcus Smart and Al Horford for upgrades at the deadline.
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Both players are on high-paying contracts right now and Josh Richardson has also been mentioned from time-to-time as being “available” on the trade market in Boston’s attempts to move under the tax line for the season.
