What would the deal be, Jordan Clarkson? Otherwise, I see no structure for a deal.
I don't see anything they might give up that I would like better than Richardson
As I read the deal, it was Ingles and a 1st for Josh, us knowing that Ingles is out for the year. Might make sense, he's a UFA after the season, could open up some cap space. Also, opens up more minutes for Romeo, Nesmith, and PP.
That adds $1.5M to our salary. I don't see any reason to do this unless Ingles and the pick go elsewhere and we get something else.
Richardson AND Schroder for Bogdanovic doesn't make sense either, at least to me. That would add salary also.
$1.5 million isn't insurmountable if the C's had something else lined up for Schroder (i.e. the Cavs, who could structure a deal that saves the C's $3-4 million).
I understand but why do this for a 2026 first round draft pick. Sure, Utah is interested in Richardson, it would be a great fit for them. But I see no deal for us here, unless a 3rd team gets involved. I don't buy the "open up minutes for Nesmith" argument. That is no reason to make a bad trade.
It's really hard to get 1st round picks for a non-starter on a greater than mid-level salary. If the Celtics could pull off a 1st with some protection, but one that was still ultimately likely to convey, that's a really good deal on its own. The C's acquired Richardson basically for free over the summer -- turning him into a first 6 months later would be small coup.
Richardson has lived up to the expectations the Celtics had for him, but the team hasn't. Still, he's not a core player, and should be available for the right price. To me, a future 1st and an expiring is absolutely the right price. I don't care much about the opening up minutes discussion. There's an argument that either Nesmith or Langford might blossom into a worthy rotation player if given a consistent 20-25 minutes a night for the next two months. They've both shown moments (Langford more than Nesmith imo), but that's more of a downside reduction to me. As in, maybe if we give Langford these minutes we'll get 90% of the production of Richardson, so we won't be much worse off this season, and will have a pick to show for it.