How Lonzo Ball trade impacts Celtics offseason options

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6 hours ago

A busy offseason of trades continued this week around the league with the Bulls dealing point guard Lonzo Ball to the Cavaliers in exchange for Isaac Okoro, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. The simple 1-for-1 swap won't become official until next month but signals a few changes on the horizon for both teams in the East as the offseason begins to take shape. Let's take a closer look at the particulars of the deal and what it may mean as the Celtics start to sift more through trade options following the deals of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.
Why the Cavs did the deal
This was reallocating assets for a Cleveland team that is deep into the second apron already and has a couple of key free agents in Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill. With Jerome expected to get mid-level exception money on the open market, the Cavs are now dealing from an area of extra depth on the roster (wing) to land Ball, who likely be the team's replacement at backup point guard next season while making a modest $10 million.
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Ball only played 35 games last year due to injury and missed the previous two seasons with knee issues, so it's a bit of a gamble to expect Ball to remain healthy. However, he's a far better option than the team could get on the open market if Jerome walked for nothing in free agency.
Why the Bulls did the deal
Okoro is a defensive upgrade on the wing for a middling Bulls squad, but how much upside the former No. 5 pick has remains an open question. He's a spotty low frequency 3-point shooter who was never able to carve out a big role for himself in Cleveland, leading to the Cavs to acquire De'Andre Hunter to soak up more minutes over him last year. Okoro is only 24, so the gamble is on youth and upside here even as he enters the sixth year of his career.
What the deal could signal about trade market for Celtics
The Cavs remain a team saddled with second apron restrictions despite this trade so they will not be factoring into any of Boston's future dealing likely, largely since they can't take back any additional money that they send out in a trade.
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The Bulls, on the other hand, are a very fascinating trade partner for Boston to look at. The team has almost no long-term money on their books outside of Patrick Williams and there are plenty of mid-sized salaries up and down the roster including Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, Coby White, Jalen Smith, and Jevon Carter. Some of those players (White) have a lot more value than the others, but this is certainly a team that could be a fit as a trade partner or facilitator with Boston if they were interested in Anfernee Simons or any other mid-level Celtics salaries in the coming weeks.
NBA free agency kicks off for the Celtics on June 30 but look for Boston to remain active on the trade market in the days to come.
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Read the original article on MassLive.