Terrence Ross – Orlando Magic
One of the key names to keep an eye on at the trade deadline this season is Terrence Ross, a 30-year-old veteran wing currently on the Orlando Magic’s roster. While Orlando has liked the leadership Ross brings to this young team, he is on a very tradeable contract and is already drawing a substantial amount of interest from playoff contending teams.
The Magic are rebuilding right now and looking to phase out some of their younger players, which is why Terrence Ross is a player many teams could pursue at the cost of a young talent and a draft pick. Boston has both of those and could use another impactful scorer off-the-bench.
Last season, Terrence Ross only played in 46 games due to multiple injuries, but he still put together a great season, averaging a career-high 15.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and shooting 41.2% from the floor. With a total of 666 points off-the-bench last season, Ross ranked 10th in the league in bench scoring and was considered to be “in-the-running” for Sixth-Man of the Year before sitting out a vast majority of the second-half of the season.
Set to make $12.5M this season and then $11.5M next season, Terrence Ross is a player that multiple contending teams should be targeting. One of those teams who should be and could very well be interested in Ross ahead of this year’s trade deadline is the Boston Celtics.
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Going out and trading for a key veteran like Ross definitely makes sense for the Celtics to add more talent to their roster, but his contract may not be too favorable for them next year.
Boston is already projected to be above the tax line for next season given the contract they currently have on their roster, so trading for Ross at this point would be a two-year investment.
As long as management is alright with the idea of having Terrence Ross on the roster for next year, as well as this year, then this trade definitely makes sense for the Boston Celtics, even if they have to sacrifice a young talent or two like Aaron Nesmith or Grant Williams.
Neither of those two guys really have a huge impact on this roster right now and by bringing in Ross, the Celtics would be adding a double-digit scorer to their bench unit that really does not have any consistent scoring weapons.
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With the Eastern Conference being as good as it is this season, Boston needs to continue to find ways to add depth and going after Terrence Ross is certainly a strong, underrated move for them to make. Having a $17M TPE from moving Fournier to the Knicks this past offseason, the Celtics could absorb Ross’ salary this season and immediately get contributions from him every single night.
Verdict: Pursue
