Non-Trey Murphy Wing Would be Perfect Addition to Celtics to Pair With Jayson Tatum originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It feels fair to say that if the Boston Celtics are going to be a championship-caliber team this season, Brad Stevens will make the necessary moves to give his team a chance to compete at a very high level.
All Stevens has done throughout his tenure in Boston is ensure his team has a chance to win, and if it weren't for some of the second-apron restrictions, the Celtics would still be by far the best team in the NBA.
Unfortunately, that isn't how the league works anymore, and the Celtics have dealt with problems because of it.
As for how that can improve, if Stevens is willing to take another big risk and trade for a guy on a huge contract, several players could make sense.
Bleacher Report recently mentioned Franz Wagner as a potential option, and while the Orlando Magic don't seem ready to move on from a 25-year-old who averaged 20.6 points per game last season and 24.2 the year before, it's worth considering him in Boston.
“At 25 years old, Wagner perhaps hasn't reached his peak, which is an exciting thought for someone with this much size (6'10", 220 lbs) and skill.
“That said, he has had trouble staying on the court of late (94 games over the past two seasons), he could be prohibitively expensive in both trade assets and salary, and teams with ball-dominant stars could wonder whether they'd encounter some of the same issues he's had fitting with Banchero,” Bleacher Report wrote.
Wagner doesn't exactly fit what the Celtics want in terms of 3-point shooting, since he's not the best shooter.
However, there's reason to believe he's probably a better shooter than he showed in the 2024-25 season, or in 2023-24, when he shot below 30% from three-point range.
The promising part is that he's willing to take them, averaging 4.5 attempts per game throughout his six-year career.
If those start to fall to about 34%, as they did in 2025-26 on 4.1 attempts per game, there's reason to believe his fit in Boston, especially at his age, could open a longer championship window.