Pointless Trade Idea

Celtics get Enes Kanter; Thunder get Amir Johnson, James Young, the #16 pick.

Yes, Kanter is absolutely atrocious on defense but he's a top notch scorer around the basket and really good rebounder. If anyone can get something out of Kanter on the defensive end, it's Coach Stevens. If it works they've got 3 more years of a solid low post scorer and they're rolling into next year with a for real vet instead of another rookie. (This'll sound weird but hear me out: Kanter's comparable game is Shaq. Within three feet of the basket Kanter is a great (yeah, I said it, GREAT) but farther than that, he becomes more and more useless. He needs to be playing at the Center spot, keep him close to the basket, give up on him guarding the perimeter. Yeah, he still kinda sucks on defense even there, but he's a good rebounder and he's got a good shot at outscoring his opponent, so he should be a plus performer at the position)

The Thunder get a decent veteran center for a year, a young shooting prospect and a shot at a decent draft pick (Denzel Valentine could be waiting there or Brice Johnson). Johnson is a so-so center but they'll be looking for reliable defense without any need of offense from him. Young can shoot 3's, I'm kinda convinced he can't do anything else but a corner shooting threat is all OKC needs and he's still on his rookie contract. Though this draft is thought to be kinda soft, I'm convinced there will still be plenty of worthwhile players at #16. The real upside here is this: next summer OKC will be desperately scraping together every penny to re-sign Westbrook, Ibaka, Adams and (presumably) Durant. By jettisoning Kanter's long range money, OKC will have the maximum flexibility to hold together this core....or start over from scratch.

I like Kanter, I think he fits well with Durant and Westbrook but OKC needs money for next summer more than anything right now. And if the core does fall apart, Kanter is not the guy they're gonna wanna rebuild around anyway. Johnson is a serviceable player underneath. If Young's talents are maximized, he can still become the deadly scorer OKC needs and for now he's still cheap enough to experiment with. Brice Johnson, for example, can be a productive player in the right environment and a team with clear leaders and championship asirations could unlock the best of his game.

If the Celtics take on Kanter the danger is that Stevens is unable to make him useful (I don't think that's a real danger, honestly, Stevens is an umitigated genius of basketball) and he wallows at the end of the bench and the Celtics are stuck with him. Young is deep down the depth chart and likely won't get a chance to play in Boston. Johnson is a serviceable player underneath but the Celtics are really looking for scoring down there and with only a year left on his deal, Johnson is not their center of the future. The #16 pick is just trade bait anyway (or a backup if #3 pick becomes trade bait). And Kanter would just be one of the moves the Celtics are going to make this summer so its not like they're living and dying on this move. But I think its good start for their shopping spree.

Seems weird at first but I think this is a good deal for both teams. OKC needs to have a big season next year and as much money as they can horde next summer, this deal doesn't diminish the former and greatly enhances the latter.