Trade Market Heating Up: Celtics Stay Quiet as Kings Explore Backcourt Upgrades

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NBA offseason is right around the corner, which means we’re on the brink of trade rumor season, where there will be no shortage of speculation about what players are going where. Kevin Durant is the biggest name everyone will be watching, as ESPN’s Shams Charania is reporting it could happen soon around the NBA Draft. Charania has reported five teams being interested in the two-time NBA champion, including the Spurs, Rockets, Timberwolves, Knicks and Heat. Giannis Antetokounmpo was expected to be the big fish on the trade market, but recent reports — and Antetokounmpo’s own words — suggest he’s not leaving Milwaukee…yet.

Some of the teams that are expected to be very active in the offseason are last year’s champions, the Celtics, and potentially the Kings are they look to rebuild their roster from a frustrating finish this year that saw them move on from star De’Aaron Fox.

Let’s look into some of the latest rumors circulating around the league as we inch closer to free agency and trade season.

Celtics could be patient this summer

After Jayson Tatum suffered a devastating Achilles tear in the second round of the playoffs, the conversation around the Celtics shifted to cost-cutting measures for next season. That was already going to be a focus regardless of Tatum’s injury or how the season ended, but it became even more important now that Boston won’t be at the peak of its powers in 2025-2026. The Celtics as currently constructed are a second apron team, and the goal is to cut some of that tax bill so they can avoid the restrictive limitations that come with having that high of a payroll.

Many people expected Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis as the two guys on the move to accomplish that. While it still might be the case, The Stein Line’s Jake Fischer is reporting that Boston isn’t “operating to date like a team desperate to shed salary.” Fischer noted that there’s a scenario in which the Celtics could go into the season without shedding some higher salary players, but still pull off those moves before the trade deadline in February.

Here’s Fischer:

"They have also given some rival teams a sense that a sequence of trades could be coming that merely start in the offseason and potentially even continue up to the in-season trade deadline ... such as dealing away Porzingis' $30.7 million contract for a lesser salary in return and then attempting to trim costs again before the February trade buzzer."

Boston could be playing the long game in an effort to try and get the best return possible for the likes of Porziņģis and Holiday, instead of rushing to get off both players salaries. It makes sense, the Celtics are in no rush to figure that out right now with Tatum out for most, if not all of next season. Fischer also notes that it may not just be Holiday and Porziņģis on the move, as everyone outside of Tatum and Jaylen Brown are on the table. That could also be extended to Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, but it would take a great deal for the Celtics to part with either of those players. Kings on the hunt for a point guard

This is incredibly ironic. Sacramento once had Tyrese Haliburton — who is now two wins away from an NBA title — and De’Aaron Fox, who the team just traded to the San Antonio Spurs in February. And now, the team is looking for a playmaking guard for next season, according to Fischer. But the options on the market are not at the level of the two point guards they had at one point, with Fischer reporting Sacramento could look at Holiday, Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon.

Holiday would likely come at a premium given there will be no shortage of contending teams looking to add him, and with the Celtics in no rush to trade anyone, it may not be doable for Sacramento before the summer is over. Smart is surely gettable from the Wizards, but who would the Kings give up to get him? There have been reports that Sacramento would be interested in breaking up its Big 3 of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis, so who do they value the least out of those three?

Financially speaking, a DeRozan for Smart swap works straight up with a future first-round pick headed to the Wizards as a sweetener, of course. And with both LaVine and Sabonis owed north of $40 million next season, it’s unlikely the Wizards would want to take on either of those salaries. DeRozan has two years left on his deal, but he’s an efficient scorer, and would be a great veteran leader to have in a Wizards locker room that has lacked that in several years. DeRozan is also 35 years old, where LaVine and Sabonis are still under 30. Adding Smart would fit more timeline wise for the Kings.

Smart would be an ideal table setter for the Kings, not needing to have the ball in his hands to be effective, and being able to put LaVine and Sabonis in a position to score. He excelled at that for years in Boston, and most importantly, he would bring a level of defense that Sacramento just doesn’t have on its roster currently. Smart is a former Defensive Player of the Year, and in a league where you need to have elite point-of-attack defenders, Smart would be a welcome addition to a Kings team that ranked 22nd on defense this season. Trading for Smart would accomplish two things for the Kings: breaking up it’s unsuccessful trio and adding a stout defender in the process.

Another interesting tidbit Fischer noted, Sacramento is trying to trade into the first round of the upcoming draft. Perhaps they would use that pick to get someone like Smart, or maybe they value someone at the backend of the first round, as Fischer reports the Kings have “expressed confidence to various agents that it could be selecting as high as the early 20s.”

It would certainly take quite a bit to trade into what is considered a deep draft this year, so who knows what Sacramento has cooking up. But it’s clear that newly named general manager Scott Perry is trying to make a mark early in his tenure to try and turn this team around from what was a disappointing season.