If the Boston Celtics stand pat at the 2022 NBA trade deadline, it won't be due to lack of trying.
New Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been open about his team's roster flaws amid an up-and-down season. According to head coach Ime Udoka, Stevens is busy exploring opportunities to address those flaws as the Feb. 10 trade deadline approaches.
In a virtual press conference Tuesday, Udoka claimed Stevens' phone has been "ringing off the hook," and that the C's exec "took probably 10 phone calls" after Boston's win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday.
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"I'm sure he's having much more (conversations) than we're talking about, but we're talking daily about any news that comes up," Udoka said, as seen in the video above. "But at the same time, his phone is ringing off the hook, and vice versa."
In fact, Udoka said Stevens has been involved in so many discussions with other teams that he'll only check in with his GM about the more "realistic" scenarios.
"You're obviously not going to talk about everything that teams talk about. Some things aren't realistic," Udoka added. "But anything that's starting to possibly have an impact, obviously we'll talk about it and run through some things about where we're at overall and what we'd like to improve on. Those are discussions we have daily.
"But he took probably 10 phone calls after our game last night, so those things you don't always talk about if it's not realistic."
NBA GMs are very busy this time of year, and it's no surprise Stevens is in the thick of it. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported the Celtics are seeking another playmaker and/or wing player to pair with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, while shooting also is a major need for Boston. Dennis Schroder and Aaron Nesmith have been floated as possible Celtics trade chips, as well, so Stevens should be making and receiving plenty of calls over the next two-plus weeks.
The C's have underachieved to this point and sit 10th in the Eastern Conference at 23-22 as of Tuesday. But they've won seven of their last 10 and are just four games behind the Cleveland Cavaliers in the No. 4 spot, so if Stevens can improve this roster ahead of the deadline, perhaps a second-half surge could follow.