Celtics trade rumors: Boston ‘would love’ to acquire All-Star big man
Add Jaren Jackson Jr. to the list of reported Celtics big man targets.
NBA insider Matt Moore reported Tuesday, citing multiple league sources, that Boston “would love” to acquire Jackson, the Memphis Grizzlies’ 6-foot-10 standout.
“There is no team I’ve heard with more interest for Jackson,” Moore wrote in his Hardwood Paroxysm Substack.
Jackson is a two-time All-Star and a decorated defender, winning NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2022-23 and making the All-Defensive first or second team in three of the last four seasons. Offensively, he’s a productive scorer with floor-spacing ability, averaging more than 20 points per game over the last four seasons while shooting 35.2% from 3-point range (on 5.0 attempts per game).
Though he isn’t a dominant rebounder, Jackson is one of the NBA’s better two-way bigs. And at 26 years old, he should be squarely in his prime.
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Whether the Grizzlies would want to part with a player like that is unclear — ESPN’s Shams Charania indicated they could look to build around Jackson if they ship out face of the franchise Ja Morant ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline — but he’d represent a major frontcourt upgrade for the Celtics, who’ve gotten solid play there this season from first-year starter Neemias Queta and, recently, backup Luka Garza.
Jackson is pricey, however, after signing a five-year, $240 million contract last summer, so any trade package for him would need to include a mix of draft picks and players. Third guard Anfernee Simons and his $27.7 million expiring deal would surely be included.
“I think Boston was open to more… radical options last summer, but I have no reason to think they’d include any of the key guys outside of Payton Pritchard, and that would probably be hard,” Moore wrote. “You’re obviously not going to include Jaylen Brown, given that he’s played at an MVP level. (Jayson) Tatum’s a no-go. There’s little way to justify trading Derrick White for Jaren.
“But if Boston loads up a pick-heavy trade package with some nice talent or tradeable contracts (Jordan Walsh, Hugo Gonzalez) for a Memphis team that would be starting over, does that get them there? Is anyone going to beat that offer for Jaren?”
Jackson posted two impressive stat lines against the Celtics last season, tallying 27 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals in a win at TD Garden and 20 points and a season-high 15 boards in a home loss. He had 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting, two rebounds, one block and one steal in Memphis’ latest visit to Boston, a 131-95 loss on Nov. 12.
The Celtics, who entered Wednesday with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and the third-best net rating in the NBA, also have been linked to big men Ivica Zubac, Daniel Gafford and Robert Williams III in pre-deadline trade rumors.
