Boston Celtics trade rumors 2016: team mulling Ellis, Monroe

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Looking back on the fantastic offseason, Boston Celtics is currently working its way to be one of the biggest forces in the Eastern Conference in the upcoming 2016-17 NBA season.

Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics put together a season that made Celtics to be viewed as a top contender in the Eastern Conference. The franchise is very excited about being back to that point after quiet a while.

ESPN originally reported that for the upcoming 2016-17 NBA season the team recently acquired star big man Al Horford in free agency this offseason with a four-year contract worth $113 million. That move alone has made the Celtics a threat to be reckoned with. It is evident that if they play up to their potential, they should finish as one of the top four teams in the conference.

Contrary to the expectations that Boston Celtics will include Jahlil Okafor from Philadelphia 76 ers, the Boston based club has now seemingly decided on Greg Monroe of Milwaukee Bucks in a bid to find a perfect match for their Al Holford. This seems like a pretty sensible thing to do considering that Monroe would be more economical both salary wise and also since they won't have to exchange any of their current players. Also, being able to team up with Al Holford he would be an asset to frontcourt defence.

To excel even further on the long road back into contention, it makes sense for the Celtics coach Brad Stevens to pursue a great scorer in the backcourt to compliment star point guard Isaiah Thomas. There is one name in particular them, Indiana Pacers' shooting guard Monta Ellis. But a tweet from Steve Kyler of the Basketball Insiders revealed that the Indiana Pacers have shopped Ellis around in trade discussions this offseason but "found little interest" from teams around the league. The Inquisitr, also indicated that Ellis would be a great complement to Thomas in the backcourt and could be used as a slasher and an additional handler of the ball so as to relieve some of the pressure on Thomas.

If the two teams' trade talks pushed through just like what these rumours are saying, there's a huge probability that the Pacers would acquire Celtics' Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart, as a replacement for Ellis' shooting guard position. Latter being a more possible trading option.