Boston-Ind Trade Idea

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Here's one my son came up with. I thought it made sense:

Mathurin and Toppin
for
Derrick White

White would do a good job filling in for Hali while he is out, but then could easily play next to him.

Celtics get a young guard prospect and a productive scoring forward. We save 5m in this trade too. Still need trade Holliday or Zinger.

[Goldstar88]

Can?t move White. Pritchard is not a starting caliber PG. He is solid as a 6th man, but not a starter. Teams attack him and he becomes a liability defensively. I?d trade them Jrue, though. Maybe they bite with Haliburton out. I do like Mathurin.

[Ilikesports17]

Can?t move White. Pritchard is not a starting caliber PG. He is solid as a 6th man, but not a starter. Teams attack him and he becomes a liability defensively. I?d trade them Jrue, though. Maybe they bite with Haliburton out. I do like Mathurin.

pretty sure Pritchard's gonna be starting next year no matter what.

Plus Indiana would never consider this deal for Holiday

[Who]

Can?t move White. Pritchard is not a starting caliber PG. He is solid as a 6th man, but not a starter. Teams attack him and he becomes a liability defensively. I?d trade them Jrue, though. Maybe they bite with Haliburton out. I do like Mathurin.

pretty sure Pritchard's gonna be starting next year no matter what.

Plus Indiana would never consider this deal for Holiday

Yeah, I don't have a problem with Pritchard starting. I think he can start for 10-12 teams in the league. While Pritchard is not a plus defender he is an adequate one. I would be fine with him as our starting PG.

As an alternative, in this trade idea, you could start Jrue at PG and Mathurin at SG and keep Pritchard in a bench role. You lose ball-handling and passing from Pritchard but in Mathurin you have a defender who cannot be matchup hunted as well. You could even start Toppin too while Tatum is out.

G: Jrue, Pritchard
G: Mathurin, Scheierman
F: Jaylen, Hauser
F: O Toppin, Horford
C: Porzingis, Queta

Assuming Kornet leaves. Tatum comes back as starting PF. Toppin becomes main backup big. Long term replacement for Horford once Horford decides to retire.

[Moranis]

Even after the Holiday and Porzingis trades, I'd probably still do this trade.

[Who]

Even after the Holiday and Porzingis trades, I'd probably still do this trade.

So that would be

G: A Simons, Pritchard
G: Mathurin, Scheierman
F: Jaylen, Hauser
F: Obi Toppin, (Horford)
C: Horford, Kornet, Queta

With Tatum to return.

That backcourt feels less comfortable without Jrue there as a controller. Both defensively and offensively. Someone who can bring stability. Someone who could make lineups where we had no defensive liability at guard. And was content just to move the ball and keep everyone else happy on offense.

Pritchard, A Simons, Mathurin are all scorers.

Mathurin offers little ball-handling or playmaking at SG. Puts more pressure on the PGs. A Simons is a limited ball-handling / playmaking PG. Pritchard is okay. I wonder if Pritchard would start ahead of Simons on this squad. Not sure you can afford (defensively) to start them both. Although you might have to get enough ball movement on offense.

Even more pressure on Tatum & Jaylen to provide the playmaking and run the offense. No D White. No Jrue. A Simons not reliable. Mathurin and A Simons are not just guys who provide little playmaking but guys who want the ball in their own hands. Like 4 guys competing for touches / shots.

[Who]

Does Mathurin feel similar to Jaylen Brown to anyone else?

A poor man's Jaylen Brown obviously but similar profile - strengths / weaknesses. The ball-handling concerns & the lack of playmaking. Plays more like a bulldozer on offense. He can defend and rebound his position. Sometimes loses concentration. Mathurin's outside shot still isn't consistent enough.

Like a smaller version of Jaylen. A 6-6 210lb SG version of the 6-7 230lb SF Jaylen Brown version.

Jaylen has improved his ball-handling and passing quite a bit beyond what Mathurin has at his disposal but young Jaylen was similar. Mathurin just finished his 3rd year. He put up 28.3mpg 16ppg 5rpg 2apg 2 TOVs. Jaylen was doing 24.4mpg 13ppg 4rpg 1.4apg 1.2 TOVs. Both Jaylen and Mathurin had a 1:1 AST:TOV ratio in their first 3 years. Jaylen 1.3apg. Mathurin 1.8apg. Jaylen had shown more 3PT shooting at 36.5% versus 34.2% for Mathurin.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Even after the Holiday and Porzingis trades, I'd probably still do this trade.

Not sure I would. While I do like Mathurin, I don't like the pairing with Simons and Brown. I don't love him as a fit next to Tatum either.

This is a problem not only for the next championship roster, but also if we are trying to highlight young players to increase their value. I don't think they'd play well next to each other.

I do like Toppin though and think he could be helpful.

[Who]

Even after the Holiday and Porzingis trades, I'd probably still do this trade.

Not sure I would. While I do like Mathurin, I don't like the pairing with Simons and Brown. I don't love him as a fit next to Tatum either.

This is a problem not only for the next championship roster, but also if we are trying to highlight young players to increase their value. I don't think they'd play well next to each other.

I do like Toppin though and think he could be helpful.

A Simons feels more of the problem than Mathurin. A defensive problem that can get picked on. An offensive problem because of his lack of playmaking and desire to score.

I wonder about that lineup with Mathurin, Jaylen, Tatum alongside a low volume offensive PG. You mentioned Ayo Dosunma in a different thread. Imagine him with this lineup. Not a big time talent but a strong defender who will play simple on offense. Let the others make plays. That could grouping could work.

[Celtics4ever]

Easy pass on that trade.   White is the best player in the deal.   That is a bad deal for us but thanks for trying.