Boston Celtics rumors: Intriguing players to watch at NBA trade deadline

Tyreke Evans

Another interesting, though unlikely, scoring option would be Tyreke Evans of the Memphis Grizzlies. Evans averaged 20.1 points in his rookie season and then fell off the map a bit, but he is reviving his career in Memphis this year to a tune of 19.6 points per game.

Evans is only making $3.3 million this season, but his rejuvenation on a struggling Memphis team will likely make him more expensive than expected. With a likely tank coming the rest of the season, the Grizzlies would only trade Evans if they could get valuable future assets back.

The danger of using the DPE would be that the Celtics may not have a great chance to re-sign whoever they bring in. Giving up valuable draft picks may not be worth a rental, with the high salaries of Hayward and Al Horford and large paydays coming up for Marcus Smart and future salary needed to retain Kyrie Irving, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown.

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Of course, if Ainge can find a deal to push the Boston Celtics in front of Cleveland and Toronto permanently, then he will bite at the chance. With a Hayward return not fully ruled out, the Celtics should try to take advantage of their DPE to add another piece before it expires in March.