What does Brad Stevens think the Celtics need at the trade deadline?

"We just have to be on the lookout for how we can fortify it and how we can make it better.”

Brad Stevens and the Celtics will be on the prowl for more depth this season. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

January 4, 2024

2 minutes to read

The Boston Celtics might sit atop the NBA standings with a 26-7 record, but that doesn’t mean that Brad Stevens is complacent with the roster that he’s assembled.

After dealing for two star talents in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday this offseason, Stevens and the Celtics likely don’t have the means (and necessarily — the need) to add another starter to what is arguably the best five-man unit in the league.

But, speaking to the media on Thursday afternoon at the Auerbach Center, Stevens acknowledged that Boston will remain on the prowl for more depth between now and the NBA’s trade deadline on Feb. 8.

“What you look at is guys that can play, guys that can add value. But, like I said last year, don’t need to play… So if we end up adding somebody, I don’t know if it will be a game-changer,” Stevens said, per video from CLNS Media. “I would like to continue to see how we can find another big wing or so that can help us, and I think that could be from within.

“I also think that we’ll continue to monitor free agency and trades. But again, the difference in this year and maybe other years is our tools are pretty limited from a dollars standpoint.”

Boston already has a few proven options on the bench, headlined by Al Horford, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta.

Stevens added additional bench depth this offseason with players like Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk, and Lamar Stevens, but that group has yet to carve out steady roles in Joe Mazzulla’s rotation.

The Celtics currently hold 10 total picks over the next four drafts. They also added a Traded Player Exception worth $6.2 million after it dealt Grant Williams to the Mavericks this summer.

That trade exception may not be enough to add a frontline bench option, but Stevens plans on leaving no stone unturned in an effort to round out the Celtics’ depth chart before an anticipated playoff run.

“You try to be smart if you add,” Stevens said. “How does it fit and how does it not take away? And so really the tool to do that again is the [trade exception], which is not big. The major trade deadline move for us was Jrue the day before the season started. So we just have to be on the lookout for how we can fortify it and how we can make it better.”