Brad Stevens Is Officially On The Board After The Celtics Trade For Mike Muscala And Give Up Basically Nothing To Do It

Ian Maule. Getty Images.

And we're off!!

Every Celtics fan has been anxiously waiting for a Shams/Woj bomb that started 

"The Boston Celtics are"

and let me tell ya, nothing gets the blood pumping than when you actually get one. I read these things so goddamn fast and go from excited to terrified to excited all in the blink of an eye. We all knew the Celts were in the market for a reserve big who can also fit with how the Celts play, so let's have a look at Mike Muscala 

I'd say I'm surprised by this move, but at the same time I'm also pretty sure I am somehow running the Boston Celtics? While watching Muscala bury the Lakers, I sent out this tweet

and now here we are. Call me crazy, but I think me and Brad share a brain. Debate that if you want. but the proof is in the pudding. Sometimes I forget about my own powers and this is not something I take lightly.

In terms of the fit, here are the details. Muscala makes $3.5M this year and has a $3.5M team option for next season. So right off the bat, from a financial side this makes sense for the types of contracts Brad looks for. He isn't expensive, he isn't an expiring unless the Celts wants to get out of it, and he has a skillset that should help in theory.

On the season, Muscala is shooting 39.4% from three on 3.3 3PA a night. Last year he shot 42%, the year before 37%, the year before that he was at 37% and the year before that he was at 36%. He has good size and at 31 isn't some sort of old washed up big. Remember, we're talking about the 3rd or 4th center on this team. Think of it as the guy who is taking Noah Vonleh's old roster spot. I'm pretty sure a floor spacing big like this can fit next to Tatum/Brown which is all that matters. It's sort of why I never got the Poeltl stuff, Brad has a type. Unless your Rob Williams, you need to be able to stretch the floor as a big on this team. Muscala does that.

In terms of the cost?

That's a no brainer. Nobody gives a shit about the 2nd round picks, and Justin Jackson definitely shouldn't have even had a roster spot, so this is yet another trade where Brad can't lose. He still has the $5.9 TPE money to use today, he still has Gallo's money and Pritchard's money if they need it. Bringing in a servicable big who fits how you play for basically nothing is the exact type of move we should want Brad to be making. I can't imagine he's done, but this is one hell of a start.

My guess is many who don't know Mike Muscala or haven't watched the Thunder will shit on this trade, but I can't see why. It didn't require any valuable assets, it doesn't add long term money, and it feels a positional need. That sounds pretty fucking good to me. This is the exact type of move around the margins that can only help. The Celts are already the best team in the NBA so it's not like they needed anything major, but they couldn't sit back and do nothing.

Brad knew that and he pounced. So far so good, so now we wait to see what comes next. By my count this is yet another slam dunk trade for Brad, and I'm not sure he knows how to lose trades at this point. This is why we Love and Trust. Brad knows what he's doing.