Boston Celtics GM Brad Stevens might be faced with a tempting and extremely difficult decision before February 6.
The Celtics are pretty much set up to compete for a second consecutive ring, but the center position is still a bit dicey.
Boston is relying on 38-year-old Al Horford to be at his best for another long playoff run, especially because Kristaps Porziņģis can’t be relied upon to stay healthy, with all due respect to his immense talent.
After missing the first 20 games of the season recovering from last season’s injury, Porziņģis left Sunday’s game versus the Washington Wizards with a heel ailment, the severity of which has not been determined or announced.
Porziņģis is a great player and person, but his body has a tendency to break down every few months, which is problematic for the Celtics.
Should Brad Stevens consider trading Porziņģis before his stock falls to an untradeable degree or he becomes unplayable due to further injuries?
Given Boston’s absurd talent at guard and on the wing, it would be a crying shame if the Celtics fell short of a second consecutive title merely because they were too thin up front.
What if Stevens decided to make a bold move and give up on Porziņģis’s crazy ceiling in favor of a more reliable center … like Steven Adams from the Houston Rockets?
By trading a talent like KP to Houston, Brad could also ask for plenty of additional assets from the Rockets, including a first-round pick and one of its young, secondary stars like Jabari Smith Jr.
A package of Adams, Smith Jr. (or Reed Sheppard, depending on who Stevens prefers), and Cam Whitmore for Porziņģis works financially.
The Rockets might be willing to take a risk on Porziņģis; if he stays healthy, he’s a player who could help them seriously contend in the Western Conference playoffs.
On the Celtics’ side, Adams would provide exactly the kind of reliable center they need to hold down the position for a return to the Finals. Smith Jr. and Whitmore are two talented wings who would provide youth and elite athleticism off the bench (Smith Jr. now, Whitmore in the future), which is convenient considering another weakness of Boston’s (though there aren’t many) is a lack of athletic wing depth.
Then there is a first-round pick (or two, if Stevens can pull it off), which would help Boston start building for the latter portion of the Jays’ primes.
Trading Porziņģis would lower the Celtics’ ceiling, no doubt. But this trade would raise their floor in the present, and for a team that basically proved last year that they can contend for a title without KP, raising the floor might be the best way to ensure Banner 19.
Porziņģis is in year one of a two-year, $60 million veteran extension.
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