3 potential landing spots for Terrence Ross at the trade deadline

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics could use some more scoring off the bench with a perimeter player.

They have enough young players to consummate a trade to satisfy what the Magic are looking for too. Guys who need a change of scenery that Boston gave sufficient time to develop but no longer have the requisite patience for to wait any longer.

Two guys who make sense are Grant Williams and Aaron Nesmith.

The Magic may not be able to get a first for Ross, but getting a second draft opportunity with a player like Nesmith would make sense.

Nesmith would be able to help replace what the team loses in Ross off the bench. He was billed coming out of Vanderbilt as a strong shooter who could create his own shot a bit. He had an injury at Vanderbilt that slowed him down coming into the NBA and he has struggled to crack the Celtics’ rotation consistently.

Entering Saturday’s game, Nesmith was averaging 3.4 points per game in 34 appearances and 10.6 minutes per game. Nesmith is shooting just 31.3-percent overall from beyond the arc for his two-year career. He just has not clicked yet in the NBA.

Williams has had his run of play with the Celtics but has now fallen out of favor too.

He is averaging 7.1 points per game in 45 appearances. Grant Williams might be able to help the team if they opt to move Mo Bamba at the trade deadline too.

The question is whether these two young players are enough for the Magic. And the Celtics might have bigger things in the work — reportedly they are trying to move Dennis Schroder.

To make a deal work with the Celtics — and almost any team — it would take acquiring one higher-priced veteran along with the young player or draft pick the Magic are after.

If Aaron Nesmith or Grant Williams is the target (both make around $3 million this season), they likely would need to also take on Josh Richardson and his additional season at $11.6-million. It is not likely the Magic would want Schroder, even on an expiring contract, considering the team’s growing bottleneck at point guard.

But for a team likely trading Ross and not extending Bamba, they could use some wing depth off the bench and front-court help.

These two guys could help Orlando in both ways and Boston gets a nice piece in return.

The framework for a deal might be there, but it is tough to see this being the best offer the Magic can find –unless they really believe in young players like Nesmith or Williams.

More likely, the Magic would try to extract a more valuable first-round pick from the Celtics either for this season or sometime down the road. Boston would be in line for a pick right in the middle of the first round. That could be the greater prize for a team like the Magic.

Plus, the Celtics currently rank 28th in bench scoring as we speak. It does not hurt that both are former first-rounders who were drafted in the last two years and can play multiple positions as wing players.