Adrian Wojnarowski has the following rumor:
The Celtics have offered their first-round pick, J.R. Giddens, around the league for a future first-round pick. So far, there are no takers. Giddens is playing for the Utah Flash of the NBA Developmental League
Keep in mind that Dec. 15 was the first day that teams could trade players that were signed this past offseason. That includes players drafted and signed this year. Correction, draft picks could be traded after 30 days.
Getting a future first rounder for Giddens would be an upgrade based purely on draft position since he was the last pick in the draft and we would most likely get back a pick higher than that.
If this rumor is true, it tells us how much the team soured on him in training camp and preseason (where he did look horrible in limited minutes). By sending him down the the D-League, they not only get him some experience, but they also might be trying to up his trade value.
Giddens averaged 17.3 points, 7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2 blocks through seven games.
"I've been watching their games on webcast," Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said. "They look good. They're young. Consistency is always an issue."
Just putting things together here; trading Giddens for a future pick also frees up a roster spot in case the team wants to add someone without subtracting a player off the current active roster.
Update: I have it from a VERY reliable source that this morning’s Yahoo! rumor regarding the Celtics trying to deal away JR Giddens is simply untrue – while the Celtics routinely have discussions with other teams about everyone on each team’s roster, there has been no specific effort to shop JR Giddens around the league, especially since JR has been playing so well in the D-League. As a result, the Celtics front office was very surprised to read the rumor in Adrian Wojnarowski’s column this morning.