HoopsHype analyst explores the logic of the Boston Celtics trading for Russell Westbrook

Justin Quinn
·3 min read
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The Boston Celtics are likely on the hunt for a third star to pair with All-Star forwards Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, with an upgrade at the point guard position perhaps being an area of interest to the front office.

At the same time, the Los Angeles Lakers are probably considering breaking up the partnership that brought former league MVP Russell Westbrook to the team this past offseason to play alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. This has caused some to wonder whether a trade might make sense between the longtime rivals. One such analyst is the NBA salary cap guru for our sister site HoopsHype Yossi Gozlan.

“[T]he Boston Celtics are a team that could use a more traditional point guard, and Westbrook theoretically could be a decent fit there since their best lineup would have three good shooters surrounding him,” writes Gozlan.

“A package of Al Horford ($27 million), Josh Richardson ($11.6 million), and Juancho Hernangomez ($7 million) combine for nearly identical salaries for Westbrook, which is important for both teams due to their current luxury tax situations,” he adds.

“However, the Celtics seem to be positioning themselves for a trade for a younger All-Star down the line. All three of those players mentioned earlier make a diverse amount of mid-sized salaries that are valuable for salary matching combinations. If they trade all of them for Westbrook, they’re taking in $44 million this year, and $47 million next year that is way harder to move than those several smaller salaries.”

Also, the Celtics are already projected to be over the luxury tax next season but can get under if they waive the non-guaranteed contracts of Horford ($14.5 million guaranteed) and Hernangomez,” notes Gozlan. “Having Westbrook’s $47 million on their books next year instead would complicate their luxury tax issues.”

To say we are considerably more skeptical about Westbrook’s potential fit with Boston is an understatement — especially defensively — but we heartily agree regarding the obstacle he would present should the Celtics want to upgrade the team further.

And while we don’t wish to denigrate his career as one of the best players to play the game over the last decade or so, he is clearly in decline as a player.

So, we don’t think the team would want to put themselves in a position to try and get off of his salary given the reasons Gozlan outlines.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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