When the trade deadline was approaching in late January into early February, it didn’t look like the Celtics would be buyers.
Boston hovered around .500 for much of January and was as low as 11th in the Eastern Conference standings during that month, which meant it wasn’t even on track make the Play-In Tournament. As the Celtics stared at another disappointing season, rumors swirled that they were looking to offload salary in order to get under the luxury tax; a sign that not only would they not be buyers, but that they would also be sellers.
However, Celtics vice president of basketball operations Mike Zarren told The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach, in a story detailing the Celtics’ midseason turnaround, that owner Wyc Grousbeck wanted the team to be buyers.