NBA Notebook: Early Celtics trade deadline preview

The NBA Trade Deadline falls one month from Monday on Feb. 5, as the new collective bargaining agreement, recent playoff format changes, and a competitive landscape across both conferences likely set up a seller's market across the league. Those few sellers could've included the Boston Celtics if their season without Jayson Tatum, following key offseason departures, had played out the way many expected following May's defeat to the Knicks. Instead, Boston began the year only three games below their 2024-25 pace and five behind the 2024 championship squad into the new year. 

That sets up a fascinating deadline for a team that exited the offseason $4 million over the first apron line and $12.1 million above the luxury tax line, the more significant number to watch. Boston projects to spend $200 million on this year's roster, an additional $39.5 million in tax, then slide to $180.6 million in salary between 11 players, which is $21.1 million below the tax threshold entering next summer. Flexibility awaits the Celtics, but between expiring salaries, current financial considerations, and the growing chance that they could contend this year with Tatum back, the next four weeks of their roster management and Tatum's recovery timeline will tell a lot about where this season could turn into the second half following an unimaginably strong start. 

• The Celtics have Sam Hauser's $10.0 million and Anfernee Simons' $27.7 million expiring deal as their most significant assets in matching salaries. Due to them moving below the second apron line over the summer, they can aggregate salaries to return a larger one, something to watch for with the team focused on making moves that would help now and in the long-term. Simons' standing in Boston becomes intriguing given the significant savings they could achieve by moving on from him, but there's also an opportunity in continuing to grow and developing his game this season, then exploring options for his future in the offseason. The Celtics have some needs in the front court, where they only recently saw Luka Garza emerge again and played small ball for several weeks behind Neemias Queta, but they're limited on medium-sized salaries and long-term draft picks, owing their 2028 first-round pick swap to San Antonio and an unprotected 2029 to Portland. They reportedly opted not to execute a Simons salary dump with the Nets that involved attaching draft picks, and opportunity and philosophy worth monitoring ahead of next month. 
• Some movement in the trade market will begin this week when the Jan. 7 waiver deadline arrives to drop players before their contracts become fully guaranteed on Jan. 10, then trade restrictions drop on Jan. 15 for players signed later, extended or re-signed with their teams for a large raise, including Herb Jones, Santi Aldama, Jonathan Kuminga, Paul Reed, Davion Mitchell and Sam Merrill, among others. 
• The Hawks will become the deadline's most active participant after news on Monday that Trae Young and the team will work together on finding him a new home. Young has a $49 million player option for next season, and with the Wizards rumored as a suitor, the market for him appears to be a large expiring contract like CJ McCollum's, alongside a young player or two like Malaki Branham or AJ Johnson. That leaves the Hawks with continued flexibility to remain active ahead of the deadline, with Kristaps Porziņģis' $30.7 million expiring, Zaccharie Risacher's $13.2 million rookie deal, and the better of the Bucks or Pelicans' first-round picks if they want to swing for a star like Giannis Antetokounmpo. 
• There's still no indication that the Bucks have interest in Antetokounmpo calls, and they could actually become one of the more aggressive buyers as they try to keep him, but with multiple picks owed to New Orleans and Portland into the future, they have limitations on what they can utilize beyond Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma's contracts in deals. 
• The Mavs seem more than willing to move Anthony Davis for the right price. It's hard to imagine anyone biting on three-years, $175.4 million at age 32, though he's still enough of a difference maker to reportedly make the Hawks and Pistons assess what adding him would look like. Dallas, quickly fading from the playoff picture, will also need to assess Kyrie Irving's (3yrs, $118.5M) future, with those decisions most likely to wait until the offseason. PJ Washington is also ineligible to move before the deadline. Defensive depth center Daniel Gafford (3yrs, $54.4) feels more than likely to move to a team that needs big man depth. 
• The Warriors have stressed patience with Steph Curry rolling and the team losing. Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler probably aren't going anywhere. Kuminga almost certainly won't last beyond the deadline. It's unclear what, if any value, he'll return to Golden State given his fall out of the rotation this season. The team, if it chooses to move them, has six of its next seven first-rounders available. 
• The always intriguing Lakers, who have annually overhauled their roster in most seasons this decade, probably won't move LeBron James in his contract season. However, that reality makes the move at least plausible this year. More likely, LA will utilize Gabe Vincent's $11.5 million, Maxi Kleber's $11 million and other smaller contracts to make marginal roster upgrades. Austin Reaves carries at least some intrigue as a $14 million piece who would rank among the most valuable trade assets in the league. Even with him missing roughly one month with a calf injury at the moment, it's almost impossible to imagine Reaves moving outside of a blockbuster like Antetokounmpo. LA can only trade its 2031 first-rounder and 2026, 2028 and 2030 pick swaps due to recent deals with Utah and Dallas. 
• The taxpayers are always worth watching ahead of a deadline. The struggling Cavs project to pay an enormous $163.8 million tax bill for their roster. New York, Minnesota and the Lakers will pay big bills. It's worth watching what the Warriors ($81.3M), Mavs ($32M) and Clippers ($20.6M) do after struggling in the first half. The Celtics will pay $39.5M as it stands. Boston paid more than that over the past three seasons to contend after totaling only $3.4 million between 2013-2021, when they made moves before the deadline to slide below the tax line before the deadline. The Celtics are 23-12, compared to 18-17 at this point in 2021. 
• The cap team, Brooklyn ($15.3M), and teams with more flexibility like the Jazz ($10.6M cap), Washington ($36.6 below apron), Detroit ($26.0M), Memphis ($23.4M), Chicago ($18.7M) and the Bucks ($17.2M). Those teams can aggregate multiple players for one, match salaries more flexibly and can even absorb contracts in some cases. Dallas ($7.0M), Washington ($9.9M, $13.4M), Philadelphia ($8.0M), New Orleans ($13.1M), Detroit ($14.1M) and Utah ($18.4M) have significant trade exceptions. The Rockets ($12.5M) and Pacers ($14.1M) have disabled player exceptions that expire in March from the Fred VanVleet and Tyrese Haliburton injuries. 
• The worst teams in the league all sit in different situations. The Pacers probably hope to be back for 2026-27 and won't gut their roster the way Sacramento may be willing to. Look for the Kings to explore Domantas Sabonis (3yrs, $146.8M), DeMar DeRozan (1yr, $24.8M guaranteed) and Zach LaVine (2yr, $96.5M) trades. Malik Monk becomes eligible to move on Jan. 15. Dennis Schröder, Keon Ellis and Russell Westbrook could all help teams. Guard prospect Devin Carter has long been available. Utah's Jusuf Nurkić, Washington's Khris Middleton and McCollum, Charlotte's Pat Connaughton, LA's Chris Paul and Memphis' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will all inevitably become available. 
• Other interesting players to watch: Chicago's Nikola Vučević becomes a free agent this summer after many trade rumor cycles, as does Coby White after extension talks failed. He's been mentioned in the past as a buyout candidate. Michael Porter Jr. is thriving in Brooklyn, but has a two-year, $78.6 million deal that'll be hard for most teams to match. The Cavs can try utilizing Lonzo Ball and Dean Wade's contracts to shake things up. The Pistons have a $26.6 million Tobias Harris expiring salary if they want to get aggressive with their future draft picks intact. Houston can trade VanVleet's contract ($25M) if they want to go all-in. The Heat have Terry Rozier's expiring ($26.6M), though likely won't receive relief for the draft pick they traded for him. The Wolves need a guard. The Pelicans have numerous interesting players, including Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey (2yrs, $12.5M), Jose Alvarado (2yr, $9M) and Yves Missi (3yr, $6.9M) whose markets they can explore even if they want to continue building around Zion Williamson. Contenders San Antonio and New York will see what they can get for Kelly Olynyk and Guerschon Yabusele.  

Here's what else happened this week around the NBA...

Atlanta (17-21): Trae Young (quad) missed the last five games as increasing evidence points toward the Hawks faring better without their star than when he's available. Atlanta rolled over the Knicks behind Jalen Johnson's 18 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists after New York defeated them in their previous game last Saturday. The Hawks also beat the Wolves, 126-102, and played the Thunder within 11 on the road, piling 129 points on their league-best defense without Young. Atlanta now has a +0.28 net rating with Young off the floor and a -7.6 with him playing, due to their ghastly 129 defensive rating. Shams Charania reported Monday that Young and the Hawks will work on a trade out of Atlanta before the deadline. Kristaps Porziņģis (illness) returned from a 10-game absence and scored 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting in the Minnesota game. He fell to 1-for-8 in New York and rested the second half of a back-to-back on Saturday, a loss to Toronto. Young's trade market is considered minimal league-wide, according to The Athletic, though the Wizards have emerged as a legitimate trade destination, according to Marc Stein. 

Boston (23-12)/Clippers (13-22): The Celtics bounced back from their loss in Portland to beat the Jazz and Kings as Jaylen Brown's nine-game streak of 30+ point games ended when Utah blitzed him, so he passed on his way to 10 assists before reaching 29 points again in Sacramento. He did not win Eastern Conference Player of the Month despite averaging 31.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 5.4 APG and 1.2 SPG on 53.8% shooting while Boston won 7-of-10. New York's Jalen Brunson claimed the award (30.6 PPG, 7.1 APG, 47.5% FG, 10-3). Brown responded with a 50-point inferno at the Clippers that arguably marked the greatest scoring performance of his career, matching his career-high on 18-for-26 shooting. Joe Mazzulla won his fifth career Coach of the Month award. Ivica Zubac (ankle) returned on Saturday from missing the previous five games. The Clippers had won their last six behind Kawhi Leonard's 41, 55 and 45 points over the Rockets, Pistons and Jazz. He's averaging 28.1 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 3.5 APG on 49.2% shooting (36.2% 3PT). 

Chicago (17-19): Beat the Magic and Pelicans as part of wins in 7-of-10 despite Coby White (calf) and Josh Giddey (hamstring) going down over the past month. Nikola Vučević, Matas Buzelis, Tre Jones, Isaac Okoro and Smith had started recently, with Patrick Williams possibly in position to regain a significant role while Smith's out with a concussion. They fell behind by 23 points in Boston while White returned to log five points in 25 minutes. 

Dallas (13-23): Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford and Klay Thompson are all reportedly available in trades with the Mavericks down to 13th in the west and losers of four straight and 7-of-10 before bouncing back with a win over Houston. A Davis deal could prove difficult due to the backdrop of Dallas needing to save face from the Luka Dončić trade should they move on from Davis, the main return in that trade. Dallas reportedly called the Warriors to express interest in a Davis swap, and the Mavs have reported interest in Jonathan Kuminga, who's only back in the Golden State rotation due to injuries. The Warriors do not, however, want to trade Jimmy Butler or Draymond Green, whose salaries would prove necessary to execute a Davis deal. Steve Kerr said recently he wants Green to retire with the Warriors. 

"My No. 1 goal, honestly, is for (Green) to finish his career as a Warrior with us fighting, metaphorically, not literally fighting and competing together until we’re both gone,” Kerr said. 

Denver (23-11): Upgraded Christian Braun (ankle) and Aaron Gordon (hamstring) to questionable entering Nets-Nuggets on Sunday in Brooklyn. That at least sets the pair of forwards up for a return ahead of their trip to Boston to face the Celtics on Wednesday. Braun missed 23 games since he went down on Nov. 12. Gordon fell 19 games ago on Nov. 21, and Denver went 11-8 without them. Life without Nikola Jokić, who's out for at least four weeks after hyperextending and bruising his left knee, splitting games with Toronto and Cleveland while Jonas Valančiūnas and Daron Holmes II moved to center for the win and loss, respectively, though Valančiūnas (calf) will now miss 4+ weeks too. The Nuggets have been outscored by 4.3 points per 100 possessions with Jokić off the floor and went +11.9 when he played. Since those marked the first two games he missed this season, Jokić can afford to miss 15 more games before he's eliminated from MVP contention. That would run through Jan. 29. He finished first or second in the last five MVP votes.

Detroit (25-9): Jalen Duren (ankle) and Tobias Harris (hip) will miss at least the next week after the Pistons' lead in the east shrunk to 2.5 games over the Knicks and 3.0 over Boston. Detroit has lost 3-of-4 to the Jazz, Clippers and Heat, but rolled over the Lakers by 22 points in the other half of the LA back-to-back. Isaiah Stewart, Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green have seen the biggest spikes in opportunity through Detroit's recent injuries, and Paul Reed entered the starting lineup in Duren's place on Sunday. Marc Stein downplayed the Pistons' previously reported interest in Anthony Davis, who will want an extension from his new team, and raised Detroit as a Michael Porter Jr. destination given that they've missed Malik Beasley's shooting.

Golden State (19-18): The Warriors continued to stand by Draymond Green following his latest turbulent moment, an ejection from the team's win over the Jazz in the second quarter due to complaining that lingered too long and earned him consecutive technicals. Green also received an ejection from Suns-Warriors on Dec. 20 for shoving an opponent, then he left Golden State's bench in their win over the Magic late last month. Steve Kerr said Golden State needs Green, despite the Warriors out-scoring Utah by 19 points the rest of the way, echoing earlier comments. Jimmy Butler agreed. He also discussed helping Jonathan Kuminga through his eighth straight DNP-CD. 

Houston (22-11): Alperen Şengün (ankle) left one minute into Saturday's loss to the Mavericks, where they already missed Steven Adams (ankle), who's been out for the past two Rockets games. Şengün had just missed two games with a calf injury. Clint Capela scored eight points with eight rebounds in extended minutes due to their absences. 

Milwaukee (16-20)/Charlotte (13-23): Kevin Porter Jr. tossed a game-winning alley oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo that handed the Bucks a win over the Hornets after Antetokounmpo called for the play based on what he saw prior to the timeout huddle. Antetokounmpo scored 30 points with 10 rebounds and five assists, posting that stat line for the 158th time in his career and passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson for the most in NBA history. Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel made his homecoming in the game by scoring 26 points after returning from a one-game absence with an ankle injury. Milwaukee is outside of the playoff picture in the East by 1.0 game following recent losses to the Nets, Grizzlies and Wizards. 

Minnesota (23-13): Anthony Edwards left the Timberwolves bench on Wednesday after Chris Finch pulled the Wolves' starters from the game with almost eight minutes remaining. Finch later revealed that the exit was not approved and said Edwards should've stayed on the bench until the end of the quarter. Edwards declined to speak with reporters after the game. Edwards scored 33 points on Saturday in Miami, helping Minnesota bounce back from three losses over its previous four games. 

New York (23-13): Jalen Brunson beat Jaylen Brown for Eastern Conference Player of the Month after averaging 30.6 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 7.1 APG on 47.5% shooting (40.5% 3PT). Brown sounded off about his perceived snub on social media and his stream, where he emphasized his standing atop the league last month over Brunson and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. New York entered Monday's matchup with the top-seeded Pistons having lost three straight and allowed 124+ points in five of their last six games, then suffered a 121-90 loss to fall behind Boston to third in the standings. They're 5-6 over their last 11. 

Orlando (20-16): Jalen Suggs (MCL) suffered a Grade 1 contusion in the Magic's loss to the Bulls on Friday and will be out indefinitely. He returned for only two games following a seven-night absence with a hip injury. Last season, he managed only 35 appearances between back and knee ailments, and has appeared in only 23 of Orlando's 36 games this year. The Magic are 6-7 without him, and have dropped 6-of-12 without Franz Wagner (ankle) while Paolo Banchero continues to battle shooting efficiency struggles into his fourth NBA season, posting a 45.2% FG and career-worst 26.3% 3PT so far. 

Philadelphia (19-15): Rolled into the new year winning three straight and 6-of-10 and energized by Joel Embiid's first dunk of the season in a win over the Knicks on Saturday. Embiid scored 26 points with 10 rebounds and five assists in New York, and has averaged 24.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG and 3.5 APG on 44.6% shooting across his last 10 appearances, where Philadelphia went 5-5. The Sixers won 4-of-5 games he rested over that stretch. More help is on the way between Trendon Watford (adductor), out since Nov. 25, and Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee), who's sat since Nov. 14. Both took part in three-on-three work on Monday. 

"It was an easy one. I wish it would have been one off the backboard," Embiid said of his dunk. "That's the next step."

Phoenix (21-15): Scored a seventh win over their last 10 and second straight when Devin Booker's late jumper pulled the Suns ahead of the Thunder and secured only Oklahoma City's sixth loss this season. Booker and Dillon Brooks combined for 46 points against the league's best defense, the only players in double-figures, while Phoenix' defense limited Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to 48. The Sun have thrived in Jordan Ott's first season as head coach, and have mostly done so without Jalen Green (hamstring), the main return in the Kevin Durant deal who's only played two games. He's beginning to ramp up toward a return and is expected to re-join the starting lineup in place of Collin Gillespie, who's averaged 13.8 PPG. 

San Antonio (25-10): Winners of 7-of-10 who kept their run going at Indiana before losing to the Blazers in two games without Victor Wembanyama, who avoided ligament damage following a left knee hyperextension he suffered in a win over the Knicks on New Year's Eve. He did not travel to Indiana. Wembanyama has already missed 14 games with injuries this season, leaving him three short of disqualification for awards. Luke Kornet, who filled in for Wembanyama at center in those two games and the 12 he missed with a calf strain earlier this season, scored 23 points with eight rebounds and five blocks in Portland. He makes his return to Boston for the first time since departing for San Antonio on Saturday at 8 p.m., likely alongside Wembanyama, who joined the Spurs in Memphis on Tuesday morning.