How Danny Ainge Could Help Provide Celtics Key Team Need

The Celtics decided to run it back with their 2024 NBA Finals team, and the results are mixed this season.

Boston’s starting five doesn’t have many concerning questions. Kristaps Porzingis’ health always remains a worry, and Derrick White and Jrue Holiday’s cold stretches aren’t great. However, there’s enough faith to be confident in them in the playoffs.

The biggest concern with the C’s is the bench outside of Al Horford. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser are 3-point merchants, and if they go cold, then the team’s ceiling significantly worsens. Luke Kornet is a reliable big man but only gives you limited minutes. Neemias Queta and Xavier Tillman haven’t developed in the way Joe Mazzulla and Brad Stevens likely hoped. And guys like Drew Peterson and Jordan Walsh aren’t ready for the NBA. The bench’s concerns got to a point where Jaden Springer is being floated as a trade candidate.

That’s why a trade made a week before the NBA trade deadline might present an opportunity for Boston.

The Los Angeles Clippers traded Mo Bamba, P.J. Tucker and a future second-round pick to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania and Bobby Marks on Saturday.

Most of the details of the trade are irrelevant to Celtics fans. What they should be paying attention to is Tucker. If you didn’t know the veteran was still in the NBA, then that means you’re not a sicko. (We love you NBA sickos, only you are keeping the league’s TV ratings afloat.)

Tucker, who turns 40 on May 5, sat out the start of the season when it was clear Tyronn Lue wasn’t going to make him part of the Clippers rotation. CEO Danny Ainge is executing a multi-year rebuild with Utah, and it’s unlikely Tucker will be part of those plans. It’s likely the Jazz buyout the last year of his deal which will net him $11.5 million.

The Celtics could consider adding Tucker to help solve their bench woes. The 2021 NBA champion is still a tough defender and a solid 3-point shooter, so he fits Mazzulla’s system. Boston, especially Jayson Tatum, is well aware of Tucker’s playoff tenacity.

Age is a concern. However, if a young Queta can’t keep up with guys, how worse could Tucker be? He also wouldn’t need to play much. The Celtics will still rely on their core six in the postseason. But Tucker gives them another wing player for specific matchups. The Oklahoma City Thunder can easily play without a traditional big man, and if Porzginis and Horford get run off the court, Tucker would be an intriguing counter as a small-ball five.

Boston correctly went all in on its core players. And with that calculated move, it will need to make crafty moves to continue its chase for more titles, and that could mean signing a player like Tucker if Ainge makes him available after the NBA trade deadline.