"Active" Celtics reportedly expressing interest in Olynyk, Drummond ahead of NBA trade deadline

BOSTON -- The Celtics own the best record in the NBA, but that doesn't mean Brad Stevens is going to sit idly at this week's NBA trade deadline. The C's president of basketball ops. is actively searching for ways to bolster the Boston bench, according to Michael Soto of HoopsHype.

Stevens is hoping to flip some of Boston's minimum contract guys and some of the second-round picks that he's collected into another bench contributor, with Soto mentioning Kelly Olynyk, Delon Wright, and Andre Drummond as players that the Celtics have targeted as of late.

Drummond is only making $3.36 million with the Bulls this season, so it wouldn't take much for Stevens to match his salary in any deal with Chicago for the rebounding extraordinaire. While he's only playing 15.8 minutes per game this season, Drummond is still averaging 7.7 points and 8.1 rebounds in that limited action. 

Olynyk, who started his career with the Celtics, is averaging 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game for the Jazz, and hitting 56 percent of his shots overall and 43 percent from long distance. But he's making $12.1 million this season before hitting free agency, so it would take some creative salary matching by Stevens to bring the big man back to Boston.

That applies to Wright as well, with the guard making just over $8 million with the Wizards this season. The 31-year-old has only played in 28 games for Washington this season, averaging 4.4 points off 39 percent shooting from the floor and 37 percent from 3-point range.

Stevens does have a $6.2 million traded player exception in his back pocket from Grant Williams' offseason departure, and that could be his best asset when it comes to bringing in something at the deadline. But the Celtics are already well over the luxury tax this season, so if Stevens adds any salary to the books at the deadline, it would cost owner Wyc Grousbeck three times that amount in the long run.

But Grousbeck has made it clear that no charge is too big for the team's quest for Banner 18. If Stevens finds a deal that adds to the bench and doesn't mess up the team's current chemistry, he will not hesitate to make the move and put his team in a better position to succeed this summer.