According to a James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, the Boston Celtics are one of the contending teams to have “shown great interest in Isaiah Stewart.”
Detroit’s center is 6’8, but he plays big for his size, not unlike former Celtic Robert Williams. The Piston is averaging 10.2 points on 45.5% from the field while grabbing just under seven boards per game. He is shooting a career-high beyond the arc at 36.7% on 3.6 attempts per game.
It’s unclear what Detroit would want in exchange for Stewart or what Boston needs to do financially to acquire him, but the addition would beef up the front court significantly. As much as fan-favorite Neemias Queta has impressed in his short stints with the team, Stewart would be an upgrade to the bench.
Stewart is an interesting trade target for Boston. He’d be a great addition.
The challenge? He’s PPP restricted (Poison Pill Provision). That means trading for him is difficult. Boston would have to match over $13M in salary to bring him in. That’s tricky for the Celtics. https://t.co/Sx4pItxwUU
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 18, 2023
Boston has been eyeing Stewart for a few months now. Earlier this summer, Edwards confirmed a report from June that the Celtics, among others, checked in on the availability of Stewart.
Heard they — and others — made calls to Detroit asking about Isaiah Stewart. I don’t see the Pistons moving Beef Stew. At all. https://t.co/V6c10Xw0Y8
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) June 15, 2023
For those unaware of Stewart, fans may remember him having to be held back after taking an elbow to the face from LeBron back in 2021.
Coming into the season, it seemed that Boston may be light in the frontcourt especially with the injury history of Kristaps Porzingis and with Al Horford sitting out one game of back-to-backs. Last week against the Magic, Boston didn’t have their top three big men as KP, Horford, and Luke Kornet were out.
With Boston pretty tight on cap flexibility, it could be too difficult of a deal to get done for the former sixteenth pick in the 2020 draft out of the University of Washington.
