Brad Stevens should be aggressive at Celtics trade deadline to cement top contender spot

BOSTON — The Celtics made history on a variety of fronts in their beatdown of the Brooklyn Nets at TD Garden on Wednesday night. They put together the largest first quarter lead in franchise history and matched the most points scored in a quarter after an undermanned Nets squad that was playing without Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons and TJ Warren.

The win one week ahead of the NBA trade deadline was an example of what Boston can be at it best. An offense that has shooting all over the floor as well as a dominant offensive rebounder in Rob Williams. A defense that has the size and discipline to slow high-powered offenses. The situation the Celtics find themselves in right now in the Eastern Conference is rare air, holding a 2.5 game lead over the Bucks and 76ers with jut 30 games to play.

While the Celtics currently sit right now as title favorites, they are slight ones at that. Teams around them in the East standings such as the Bucks and 76ers are going to be very aggressive in upgrading their roster in the coming week. A largely quiet trade landscape will likely start to develop as we get closer to the trade deadline next Thursday and those are squads that are going to be likely to add to try to keep pace with Boston in the race for homecourt advantage in the East and what will likely be battle for the East playoffs.

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When fully healthy, the Celtics have a deeper rotation than past seasons but finding players that Joe Mazzulla trusts in the regular season or could be useful in a bind in a postseason game if injury arises needs to be top of mind for the front office. It’s rarified air to be considered a title favorite and the Celtics can’t be content to think they can ride their current personnel when there are ample opportunities for upgrades without taking away from the team’s. A TPE worth $6 million is not something the team should let fall by the wayside at the expense of multiple second-round picks and a few added tax dollars by Wyc Grousbeck and the team’s ownership group. Grousbeck made clear his intentions in an interview with NBC Sports Boston last week.

“The conversation that I had with Brad is: It’s about this year,” Grousbeck said. “It’s not about this will pay dividends in three years or this will do this next year. It is this year. Muscle up and let’s go get the job done. That’s his instructions, and that’s what we’re going to try to do. If there’s anything to do, we’ll do it. If not, we love this team. We’re top of the league right now.”

There may be limited sellers on the market for now but that’s a reality that will change in the next week. Some teams at the bottom of the lottery standings will begin to pivot. Toronto and Chicago could have plenty of interesting names that might be available at the right place and there are several teams at the bottom of the playoff race that could be looking to dump some money or mix things up.

Keeping Al Horford and Rob Williams healthy needs to be a top priority and adding another reliable big that could help achieve that in the regular season and potentially postseason should be a priority. Upgrading Justin Jackson as deep wing bench depth should be doable as well in the event anyone in Boston’s backcourt goes down via the trade or buyout market.

Stevens is dealing from a position of power this season but that should not stop him from being aggressive. Opportunities like this do not come around much and with the NBA more wide open than ever this season, the Celtics should be trying to fill any holes. This team has shown it’s worthy of the best possible shot of winning now, even if it comes at some expense for the future.