As the NBA’s February 8 trade deadline approaches, the Boston Celtics are sitting atop the league with a 26-7 record. The concern of depth hasn’t presented itself as drastically as some anticipated before the season began, but as is always the case for title contenders heading towards the trade deadline, monitoring the market will be crucial.

Of the Celtics’ potential needs, the center position jumps out at first glance. Behind Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, there is a steep drop-off to Luke Kornet and two-way big man Neemias Queta.

However, adding an upgrade at the 5 is much easier said than done.

“First of all, adding a rotation center, that would have to be one hell of a player, right?,” President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens said at Celtics practice on Thursday afternoon. “When you think about [it], we’ve got really good players. I think what we’re looking for and what we most likely [will do], especially with where we are from a tool standpoint, there’s really not a ton [of big things] we can do without touching our main guys, right?”

Boston’s primary tool heading into this year’s trade deadline is the Traded Player Exception they received in the Grant Williams trade over the summer, which comes out to roughly $6.2 million.

Not only would it be difficult to add a quality player at that salary, but finding a team willing to trade a player on a deal like that makes things even more complicated.

Stevens noted at practice that guys making less than that amount are either on minimum contracts, small contracts, or rookie-scale deals that “teams aren’t exactly excited to move on from yet.”

And perhaps more importantly, he’s been happy with the play Boston has gotten from their current center rotation.

“We’ve obviously [gotten] good play, great play out of Kristaps. I think Al has been good. I think Luke and Neemy, when called upon, have both added great value. And so, you know, if we end up adding somebody, you know, I don’t know that it will be a game-changer in the way that you said it from the rotation standpoint.”

Porzingis and Horford have always been filed away as big-impact players, but Kornet and Queta came into the year as question marks. However, their effective play this year isn’t a surprise to Stevens.

“No, they haven’t [surprised me],” Stevens said. “They’re good players. And when you’re surrounded by good players, especially our guards and wings that we have, the job’s a little easier. You get to the rim, they’re either gonna throw it up to you or they’re gonna throw it out to the other guy for a wide-open three because your guy is on you. They’ve done a good job of fulfilling their roles.”

Kornet came into the year as Boston’s go-to third-string center, but an injury in warm-ups sidelined him for an extended stretch in December. During that time, Queta stepped up and proved himself worthy of more opportunities.

He’s averaging 5.3 points and 5.3 rebounds in 12 games this season, but still on a two-way contract. Queta can only be active for 50 games this season and is ineligible to play in the playoffs.

Queta has made a case to earn a standard contract, and the Celtics have one roster spot open. However, maintaining flexibility could be crucial as the trade deadline rapidly approaches.

“We have discussions every day about how we’re gonna move forward with those other spots in our roster, right?” Stevens said. “We have one open spot right now. You have to carry 14. I think it’s helpful to go into a trade deadline or whatever with a little bit of flexibility from a roster standpoint. But we have those discussions every day.”

Stevens said that Boston has communicated with Queta from the jump that he could be an important member of their big-league squad rather than just a G League project.

“He’s made a great case,” Stevens said of Queta. “He’s a hard worker. He’s been a really good player for us. We anticipated and communicated to him when we got him that he was going to be in Boston a whole heck of a lot more than Maine because we were gonna have Al sitting on back-to-backs, because Kristaps was gonna sit a little bit here and there.

“We didn’t anticipate Luke getting hurt in warm-ups a couple of weeks ago. But now that he’s back here, we feel a little bit more secure there. He’s done a good job, and it’s been obviously noted.”

The Celtics’ limited trade tools make it difficult to envision any significant additions at the center spot, or at any position, for that matter.

Some names that jump out at the center position purely because of salary and potential availability include Chicago Bulls big man Andre Drummond, Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards, and, depending on their deadline plans, LA Clippers veteran Mason Plumlee. That said, none stand out as significant upgrades over Boston’s current group.

Boston has been pleased with how things have been going in-house, and it seems as though the center position may look the same come February 9.

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Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Brad Stevens spoke to reporters after Thursday’s practice and acknowledged that while he’s always looking for opportunities to improve the roster, he’s also looking internally at potential candidates for increased minutes.

Stevens explained that while he’s monitoring outside opportunities on a daily basis, this particular Celtics team has already made its big splash when it acquired Jrue Holiday the day before training camp.

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

“Every year around this time, you’re looking at how do we improve to give ourselves the best chance?,” Stevens said. “There are different ways to do it. Obviously, you can improve within, and we can do better at what we do on both ends of the court, and hopefully make strides individually and in how we fit together. Then, you can improve from free agency and trades or whatever. I do think that the key to us is going to be improvement from within.”

Stevens identified adding another big wing to be his particular rotation priority.

“I would like to continue to see how we can find another big wing or so that can help us, and I think that can be from within,” Stevens said. “I also think we’ll continue to monitor free agency and trades, but again, the difference in this year and maybe other years is that our tools are pretty limited from a dollars standpoint.”

But, as he evaluated his options ahead of the February midseason trade deadline, Stevens doesn’t want to disrupt the team’s chemistry, either. The Celtics finished the month of December with an NBA-best 12-2 record, and continue to maintain the best record in the league (27-6).

Returning players like Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet have largely excelled in their roles, continuing to play well with one another and within the Celtics’ system.

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“When you add players to your team, they can add to your team, or take away from your team,” Steven said. “You’ve just got to be careful. That’s something to think about when you have as many guys that are complementing each other as well as ours.”

The next month will serve as a good opportunity for Stevens to evaluate his options on the ‘guys in the building’, as he likes to call it.

For reference, the Celtics’ current collection of back-up wings include:

• Sam Hauser, who has excelled off the bench this season and has become a fixture of the bench unit. Hauser is shooting 42.2% from three and averaging 8.5 points per game, all while excelling within the Celtics defense as well.
• Lamar Stevens, who has historically been known for his defense, Lamar Stevens started 25 games for the Cavaliers last season. Stevens has seen just 60 game minutes so far this season, but has been pretty productive in those. His per 40 minute averages are 19.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 17.8 assists. Small sample, but he’s contributed well .
• Oshae Brissett, who spent the last three seasons with Indiana and became a regular rotation player there. Brissett has been a sometimes-rotation player, and has gotten about 190 minutes of action so far this season. His per 40 minutes averages are 10.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, and he’s caught fire from downtown as of late, hitting 5 of his last 7 three-pointers.
• Svi Mykhailiuk, who has not yet seen much action this season after finding his way as a starter for the Hornets late last season. Svi has played 99 minutes but has struggled offensively in limited time, shooting just 28.1% from the field and 19.2% from three.
• Jordan Walsh, the 19-year-old drafted with the #38 pick, who has spent most of the year in Maine. Walsh is putting up 15.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game. It’s unlikely he’ll get called on this year, but provides another “in-house” option.
• Drew Peterson, who is an undrafted rookie out of USC that was signed to a two-way deal with the Celtics last month, and has been a standout on the Maine Celtics, averaging 16.7 points per game. He’s a sharpshooter that has described himself as an all-around player who does the little things.

Stevens said January’s difficult schedule will likely provide an opportunity for more end-of-bench guys, a group that has sometimes been referred to as the “Stay-Ready” group. How those guys fare could help Stevens determine if he needs to look outside the current roster for back-up wing minutes before the February 9 trade deadline.

“We just have to be on the lookout for how we can fortify, how we can make it better,” Stevens said. “I don’t want to say that person is not in the building because they might be right now. I’ve been very encouraged when our bench has gotten in games, how they have helped us.

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