Why didn’t the Boston Celtics make a trade before the deadline?

The Boston Celtics have been one of the most advantageous trading franchises the past decade or so. Danny Ainge is known throughout Boston as “Trader Danny” and many fans probably expected the Celts to make a move in some capacity on Thursday before 3:00 p.m. ET. That wasn’t the case this time around and it begs the question: Should Boston have made a trade?

The easy answer there is yes. The Celtics lack depth in the front court with Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter the two legit centers on the roster. Behind them, it’s a bunch of unproven youngsters and undersized players. Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum are better suited playing small forward, but Tatum normally plays PF.

This hasn’t been much of an issue since the Celtics are 35-15, in third place in the East, and are on a five-game winning streak. So it would appear Boston is fine and didn’t need to make a move. Looking at the wide scope though, the Celtics will definitely have issues in the playoffs in a seven-game series against some of the top teams in the East. The Bucks, Raptors, Heat and Sixers all have significantly more size and depth than the C’s. I’m sure Ainge will be active in the buyout market, but that isn’t a reliable place for help all the time.

In the end, I think Ainge didn’t want to part with a young piece, whether that be Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Tatum or draft picks in order to bring in a rental center to make a playoff run. They’ll go with what they got and hope for the best.