Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 1/4/16

The Celtics, much like the Bulls, have an overabundance of front court players on their roster this season. While depth is certainly a nice luxury to possess for any franchise, having more players than minutes to go around can create locker room issues if some team members feel slighted by playing time cuts. It can also slow the development of younger players needing as much game experience as they can get their hands on. With the February trade deadline rapidly approaching and the team clinging to the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference, Boston’s president of basketball operations, Danny Ainge, could look to alleviate Boston’s frontcourt logjam, as Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com noted on Sunday.

This brings me to the topic for today: Should the Celtics look to deal one or more of their current crop of frontcourt players, and if so, who should the team look to move?

Tyler Zeller and Jared Sullinger are both eligible to hit restricted free agency after the season, provided Boston tenders them qualifying offers, and David Lee is playing on an expiring deal, which makes them all prime candidates to be moved. The team would likely prefer to deal Lee, seeing as he’s not in the Celtics’ long-term plans, but his $15,493,680 salary for 2015/16 makes him a difficult player to find a suitor for without having to take back a less than desirable contract or two in return. Offseason signee Amir Johnson is also a possibility, and his non-guaranteed salary for next season could certainly be attractive to a team looking to free up cap space. Boston could also look to make a smaller trade involving Jonas Jerebko, whose 2016/17 salary is non-guaranteed, or Kelly Olynyk, who still has one more season on his fully guaranteed contract remaining after this one.

But what say you? Should the team look to deal one of the players I mentioned above, or would you prefer the Celtics stand pat? If you think Boston needs to make a trade, who should the team look to move first? What’s the best realistic trade you can come up with for your choice? Take to the comments section below to weigh in and share your thoughts on the matter. We look forward to what you have to say.

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