Celtics Linked to Three-Time DPOY in Wild Trade Scenario: Insider

Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics


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Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics

The Utah Jazz could be in for a major overhaul in the 2022 NBA Offseason. Quin Snyder has already stepped down as their head coach, and there has been a lot of doubt if Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Tony Jones of The Athletic reported that the Jazz have no plans to trade Mitchell. In fact, they intend to build around him.

On June 5, 2022, Jones reported that everyone else on the team, including Gobert, has varying degrees of availability via trade. On June 6, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer brought up multiple teams who could potentially vie for Gobert’s services: the Memphis Grizzlies, the Phoenix Suns, and the Boston Celtics.

When naming those teams, he gave his take on why they would be interested in acquiring Gobert. In Boston’s case, he also added what package Boston could use to entice Utah.

I could also theoretically see a team like the Grizzlies viewing Gobert as a worthy upgrade over Steven Adams. Maybe the Suns feel the same about him over Deandre Ayton. Or maybe the Celtics lose in the Finals and decide they can’t trust Robert Williams III to stay healthy, so Brad Stevens calls Ainge to offer Williams, Aaron Nesmith, Derrick White, and multiple firsts? Gobert in the Williams role could potentially unleash the best version of him that we’ve ever seen.

If the Celtics were to agree to that deal, they would be pairing Marcus Smart, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, with a player who’s won the same award in three of the previous four years.


Robert Williams III’s Injury Issues

O’Connor mentioned earlier that Boston may inquire about Gobert on the basis that they couldn’t trust Robert Williams to avoid the injury bug. Williams has grown a lot this year in a starter’s role, as his impact on Boston this season led to him being voted into the 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive Second Team, but he hasn’t done much to dispel that he’s injury-prone.

Ever since the Celtics elevated Williams into a bigger role with the team starting from his second season in 2019-20 onward, he has played the following number of games out of the total number of games the Celtics as a team played that season.

2019-20: 29 out of 72
2020-21: 52 out of 72
2021-22: 61 out of 82

This season, Williams averaged a career-high in minutes per game at 29.6, according to ESPN.com, before tearing his meniscus on March 27 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Since coming back in Game 3 of Boston’s first-round matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, Williams’ minutes per game have gone down to 21.1. He’s also missed multiple games in the playoffs because of a knee bruise.

Gobert has missed some stretches for the Jazz, but the most games he missed in one season were 26 in the 2017-18 season. Since then, he hasn’t missed more than 16 games for the Jazz, according to ESPN.com.


Gobert Predicted Boston Would Win the 2022 NBA Title

After the Celtics eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks on May 15, Gobert tweeted his pick that Boston would win it all.

On May 23, Gobert later praised Boston’s defense as tough as Boston was in the midst of defeating the Miami Heat 102-82 to tie the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals.

Defense has been Boston’s calling card all season. Depending on what they’d have to give up in a package, Gobert would fit what they do like a glove.

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