![\"Celtics,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2237754038-e1769281181940.jpg\")
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Brad Stevens, president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, answers a question during a press conference at Boston Celtics media day at the Auerbach Center on September 29, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. <\/p>\n
The Boston Celtics<\/a> reportedly plan to be \u201caggressive\u201d in pursuit of a new starting center ahead of the Feb. 5 NBA<\/a> trade deadline.<\/p>\n Per ESPN\u2019s Shams Charania, the Celtics feel that a new starting center could be the last piece of the puzzle to help them get back to championship status, especially ahead of Jayson Tatum\u2019s return<\/a> to the lineup at some point in the second half of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been in the marketplace, trying to go get a big-time starting center potentially,\u201d Charania told the \u201cPat McAfee Show\u201d<\/a> on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re going to be aggressive, I think, in moving the needle. They\u2019ve got assets. They\u2019ve got contracts to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n Charania added that the Celtics may no longer be keen on shedding salary to try and get under the First Apron of the luxury tax line, as was previously expected after they traded Kristaps Porzingis<\/a> and Jrue Holiday<\/a> last summer for financial relief.<\/p>\n Celtics Trade Deadline Targets<\/p>\n \u201cI could see Boston going the other way,\u201d Charania predicted, claiming that rival execs believe the Celtics may be more open to taking on contracts to make a title push.<\/p>\n So, who could be the \u201cbig-time\u201d starting center in the Celtics\u2019 trade wishlist?<\/p>\n As has been widely reported, the LA Clippers<\/a>\u2018 Ivica Zubac<\/a> and the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>\u2018 Jaren Jackson<\/a> Jr. have been linked to the Celtics in their pursuit of quality bigs. While there is no evidence suggesting the Grizzlies are shopping Jackson, who is seen as their franchise player amid Ja Morant\u2019s inevitable departure, the Clippers are reportedly open to dealing Zubac but have set a very high asking price.<\/a><\/p>\n Celtics Trade Deadline Plans<\/p>\n Per ClutchPoints\u2019 Brett Siegel<\/a>, the Celtics are among at least five teams that have inquired about Zubac\u2019s availability.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Clippers have rejected trade offers for Zubac, with a belief around the league that they\u2019re seeking multiple first-round picks in any potential deal for him,\u201d Siegel reported<\/p>\n \u201cOne team offered an unprotected first-round pick and a pick swap in an offer for Zubac, sources said, but those talks didn\u2019t go anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n The Celtics technically have the ability to offer multiple first-round picks for Zubac, along with Anfernee Simons<\/a>\u2018 expiring $27.7M salary. They also have the option of packaging fan-favorite Payton Pritchard<\/a> and Sam Hauser<\/a> in a potential deal. However, it seems unlikely that the C\u2019s will part with multiple rotational players, with insiders expecting them to build a package around Simons and draft assets.<\/p>\n Both Zubac and Jackson are defensive-minded bigs who could fit in nicely next to the Celtics\u2019 Big 3 of Jayson Tatum<\/a>, Jaylen Brown<\/a> and Derrick White<\/a>. They\u2019re also both signed for the long haul, making them viable fits for the rest of the Tatum-Brown era.<\/p>\n The Celtics started the season very thin at the five spot after losing Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford<\/a> last offseason. However, fifth-year big man Neemias Queta<\/a> has done admirably well as the starting center, averaging 10.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks from 42 starts. Rookie Luka Garza<\/a> and Josh Minott<\/a> have also filled in well in the second unit, helping the Celtics (28-16) consolidate the second seed in the East.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSai Mohan<\/a> covers the NBA for Heavy.com. Based in Portugal, Sai is a seasoned sports writer with nearly two decades of publishing experience, including bylines at Yardbarker, FanSided’s Hoops Habit, International Business Times, Hindustan Times and more. More about Sai Mohan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Celtics\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Brad Stevens, president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics, answers a question during a press conference…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-256010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}