Report: Celtics showing ‘strong interest’ in Davis Bertans

It surely hasn’t been a silent lead up to Thursday’s NBA trade deadline for the Boston Celtics.

The rumors on potential Celtics trades continued Tuesday when Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix reported that Boston is showing “strong interest” in Washington Wizards sharpshooter Davis Bertans.

But trying to obtain Bertans won’t be as easy as it seems, according to Mannix, despite the Wizards currently being 15 games below the .500 mark and sitting in 10th place in the Eastern Conference.

“Washington has effectively hung up on teams looking to extract Bertans,” Mannix wrote, “but Boston could make things interesting if they throw a pick or two into the pot.”

Mannix points out that Bertans could bolster the Celtics’ bench unit that struggles to create offense, especially from beyond the arc, which is a specialty of Bertans. The 6-foot-10 Latvian forward is averaging 15.0 points and shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range to go along with 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 rebounds per game.

The 27-year-old Bertans, who was traded from San Antonio to the Wizards this past offseason, is in his fourth NBA season will be an unrestricted free agent next year.