Celtics rumors: Boston reportedly discussing possible trades with Atlanta Hawks before draft

The Celtics are one of three teams that have been connected to the Hawks in trade talks, according to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer.

O’Connor also mentioned the Raptors and Mavericks, citing Atlanta’s interest in Toronto’s Pascal Siakam.

The Hawks have the No. 15 overall pick in Thursday’s NBA Draft. They also have a bunch of young, affordable forwards who the Celtics could look at swapping a guard for.

The Celtics don’t have a first-round pick in this draft. They traded it to Indiana last offseason as a part of the package that landed Malcolm Brogdon. But, considering that they were one win away from making the NBA Finals and seem focused on winning now, it doesn’t appear to make much sense to give up significant assets for the No. 15 pick.

Atlanta’s Saddiq Bey averaged 13.8 points off the bench and shot 40 percent from 3-point range this past season. The Celtics clearly value athletic wings who can score from outside like Bey can.

The main questions with trading for Bey would revolve around how much the Celtics have to give up, and if they can avoid creating a logjam at the forward position. Still, he’s got a year left on his rookie deal and is scheduled to make $4,556,983 next season, which could end up being a bargain.

Onyeka Okongwu is a big man who could bolster the Celtics’ rim protection and rebounding. He swatted 1.3 blocks per game and grabbed 7.2 rebounds per game while averaging 24.1 minutes. He’s in his third NBA season, and last year was the first time he played more than 50 games, so his game still has room to grow. He’s still on his rookie deal, which gives him solid trade value as an affordable option, but that also means it would probably take a decent haul for Atlanta to give him up.

AJ Griffin was a first-round pick last year, and averaged 8.9 points as a rookie. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Duke product is the son of Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin, who spent two seasons with the Celtics as a player. A former 5-star recruit turned sharpshooter, the younger Griffin made 39 percent of his 3-point attempts and 89.4 percent of his free-throws last season.

The Celtics could look to move Payton Pritchard, who openly discussed his desire for a trade during the regular-season last year. They’ve also reportedly discussed sign-and-trade deals for Grant Williams. Brogdon has been rumored to draw trade interest, but it’s unclear how interested the Celtics would be in moving him.

The Celtics haven’t had a first-round pick since 2020, when they selected Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith. They used their recent first-rounders to acquire Brogdon and Derrick White. It isn’t far-fetched that they could use future picks, if the right deal comes along.

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The post Celtics rumors: Boston reportedly discussing possible trades with Atlanta Hawks before draft appeared first on Boston.com.