The NBA has been pretty busy of late with regards to transactions. A few teams have pulled the trigger in the hopes to either compete for the title or to go in rebuilding mode. Sometimes it’s not logical to keep players on your team that will hinder the city from going in the right direction.

In the last week or so, the Boston Celtics have been one of the busier teams in trading away their assets. They have recently traded away Brandan Wright to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a protected first round draft pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Celtics had a logjam in their front court rotation so it was bound to happen. This frees up more playing time for Sullinger, Olynyk and Zeller, but the remaining question mark seems to be Brandon Bass.

It would make little sense for the Celtics to keep Bass given that they are looking to build around their young nucleus. Bass could be traded before February 19^th as a lot of contenders will be looking to attain his veteran services.

Boston has also traded away Jeff Green to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for Tayshaun Prince and a future first round pick. This will not only help the Celtics in rebuilding for the near future, but it will also give the younger players a chance to improve.

Players that will mostly benefit from this trade in terms of fantasy implications are Evan Turner, Marcus Smart, and Jae Crowder. You can argue that Olynyk, Sullinger, Zeller and Bradley will also get a boost in their production, but those were already a given and a few of those players have already been starting throughout the entire season.

Evan Turner should be more of a producer since he can be used to handle the ball until Marcus Smart improves more in that category. Turner should be a reliable source of rebounds, assists and some points, but can prove to be somewhat inconsistent at times. However, he has the opportunity in Boston to show that he can produce at a high rate.

Marcus Smart should steadily progress as the season goes on. It is only his rookie year, but he has the ability to be a great defender in this league. Once he gets more minutes and gets more comfortable running the show in Boston, he should be able to give you stats across the board. Point guards that are able to get you both steals and blocks are very rare in the NBA, so if you’re short on point guards and are looking to make a good long term investment then Smart is your man.

Jae Crowder was recently forced into the starting lineup once Jeff Green was on his way out to Memphis. He has a lot of upside and can also be a huge player for you if you’re willing to take a gamble right now. Crowder in most leagues is either sf or pf or could sf/pf eligible. He offers you a decent amount of rebounds, steals and blocks and is just a pure energy player. He should be able to carve a good amount of minutes in the rotation considering that there isn’t many small forwards on the team to compete with. Gerald Wallace definitely won’t steal any of his minutes and Crowder should be looking to get at least minutes in the mid 20s.

The Celtics have some really good pieces if you want to drop a player that hasn’t been cutting it for you. Off the bat, Turner and Crowder should produce more than Smart, but Marcus can definitely improve his game as the season progresses.