Celtics’ January progress is clouding their NBA trade deadline decisions

Forsberg: Could these trends alter Celtics’ trade deadline strategy? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

It’s trade season so everything around the Boston Celtics — and much of the NBA — is shrouded by the smoke of trade rumors, the majority of which won’t come to fruition.

Hey, we get it. Trades are fun. More fun than the Celtics have been for most of the past two seasons. But the majority of deals that get to the finish line over the next two weeks are unlikely to be anything that danced in internet rumors.

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Here’s something a bit more definitive to ponder: The Celtics are about to wrap up a quietly encouraging January, a month in which they rank second in the NBA in net rating at plus-9.6, trailing only the Phoenix Suns, who have posted a league-best 11-1 record with a net rating of plus-11.8 net rating.

The Celtics are a less sexy 8-5 in that span. Improbable collapses against the Knicks and Trail Blazers have tempered much of the progress made. And two lopsided wins this week have certainly juiced Boston’s numbers.

As usual, it’s impossible to make any firm declarations about this team.

But as Brad Stevens ponders potential roster tweaks in advance of the February 10 trade deadline, he’ll do it while digesting his team’s recent progress. Boston plays three of its next four games against Eastern Conference squads ahead of them in the standings, which might help steer Stevens in the crawl to the trade buzzer.

If he ultimately elects to keep this team largely intact — maybe making minor tweaks to add shooting, another reliable big man, and/or simply clear a pathway to court time for Boston’s younger players — then the following trends will have given him the confidence to cross his fingers on this year’s core and wait for the summer for bigger changes.

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