Appearing on the latest episode of the Bill Simmons podcast , Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer said the Utah Jazz have expressed interest in acquiring Celtics' wing Josh Richardson.
That news comes as no surprise, considering the Jazz are an NBA title contender looking to add an athletic perimeter defender. The fact they recently lost Joe Ingles to a season-ending knee injury creates an even greater need for them to upgrade their roster before the playoffs.
Richardson isn't the deadeye shooter Ingles is, but he's a better defender, and he's knocking down 39.1 percent of the 3.5 threes he's hoisting per game. He's also showcasing more of his capabilities attacking off the dribble and scoring from mid-range this season than in his previous two stops with the Mavericks and Sixers, respectively.
As a result of coming off the bench in all 40 games he's played this season, Richardson's statistics are down. However, after taking on roles that weren't a proper fit or getting asked to do too much, he's in the middle of a bounce-back campaign, and while he's not a permanent fixture in Boston's closing lineup, he's someone Ime Udoka trusts on the floor in crunch time.
Furthermore, the 28-year-old veteran is on a team-friendly contract, garnering $11.6 million this season and $12.2 million for the 2022-23 campaign.
So, what might the Jazz's new CEO of basketball operations, Danny Ainge, be willing to offer to acquire Richardson? He'll likely try to entice his successor in Boston, Brad Stevens, with a package featuring Ingles' expiring $13-million contract. Absorbing that salary shouldn't prevent the Celtics from getting under the tax before the trade deadline ends at 3 P.M. EST on Feb. 10, and doing so would allow them to swap a multi-year deal for one that would come off their books this summer. Of course, Utah would also have to include a first-round pick to facilitate that trade.
Inside The Celtics is guessing it would take more than that to acquire Richardson, even if Utah is willing to make that a future first-round pick, considering the Jazz are currently 30-21 and fourth in the West.
Ainge doesn't have promising young players he could include to sweeten the deal, meaning to add Richardson, he'd most likely have to part with a veteran member of Utah's rotation.
Trading Richardson for Royce O'Neale, even if he came to Boston with draft compensation, doesn't seem like a possibility the Celtics would find palatable. The Jazz probably don't find parting with their best perimeter defender to make this happen appealing, either.
They'd likely feel the same way about trading an even better player in Bojan Bogdanovic to acquire Richardson. Ultimately, it doesn't seem like these two teams would make great trade partners in a deal involving the latter, but this wouldn't be the first time that didn't stand in the way of a trade.
More must-reads: