Boston Celtics
Building off of the whole “relationships” idea with other star players, Donovan Mitchell also has strong ties with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Both Tatum and Mitchell were a part of the 2017 draft class and as for Jaylen Brown, he and Mitchell became friends not only through playing against one another, but hanging out with each other in the NBA Bubble down in Orlando last season during the NBA’s resumption of play.
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With two young stars already on their roster, the Celtics seem like an organization that will be looking to make some big moves over the next few years. Tatum and Brown no doubt make up one of the better young duos in the entire league and with the Celtics needing a reliable guard to lean on, Donovan Mitchell could be the final piece for them to win another championship.
This offseason and the potential moves that the Celtics make over the course of the 2021-22 season will play a big role in what they can potentially achieve in the future in terms of trading for a young star like Mitchell.
Jaylen Brown is under contract through the 2023-24 season and Tatum is locked up through the 2024-25 season, so there is no concern that either of these two guys may leave in free agency anytime soon, but what the Celtics decide to do with Marcus Smart could absolutely play a big role in their future plans.
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Smart is entering the final year of his contract, so if the Celtics extended him long-term to a big deal, they could potentially use him as “trade bait” in the future to go after a guy like Mitchell, especially since Al Horford is under contract through the 2022-23 season and would free up $26.5M in cap space during the 2023 offseason.
The Celtics are a franchise that are always in the mix to land big names via free agency and trades, so it should not be surprising to see them make some big moves over the next few years to compete for a championship. Trading for Donovan Mitchell could potentially be one of these moves the Celtics think about.
