For years, the Boston Celtics have been a force in the Eastern Conference and always seem to be in contention to make an NBA Finals run, but that just has not happened. 

Boston has made the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, this year likely making it eight, but they have not reached the NBA Finals in this span and have instead made it to the Eastern Conference Finals three different times. 

Following their first-round exit to the Brooklyn Nets last year, the Celtics are definitely motivated to prove that they are still a contending team and they have looked solid when they are at full-strength this season. 

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are still two of the best, young All-Stars in this league and having Dennis Schroder and Al Horford, the Celtics definitely have more scoring depth than they had a season ago, but this team still does not look like a finished product yet.

We should definitely expect to see the Boston Celtics be busy near the trade deadline this year, especially since they have an abundance of trade exceptions. Boston has TPEs of $17.1M, $9.7M, $5.09M, $500K and $370K, giving them plenty of options on players to target via trades. 

While he may not fit into one of these exceptions, one guy who they should be taking a deep look at is Raptors’ All-Star forward Pascal Siakam. Coming off shoulder surgery in the offseason Siakam missed the first month of the regular season and in that time, rookie Scottie Barnes really stepped up for Toronto. 

Barnes has continued to play at a high-level with Siakam back and with the Raptors’ playoff hopes looking very bleak right now, they could actually be interested in moving on from Pascal Siakam. 

He has been a large part of their success through the years and is a high-level, two-way threat in the frontcourt, but getting out of his contract and adding more overall value could be an interesting thought for Toronto to ponder ahead of the trade deadline this year.