Why BOSTON does it: Aaron Gordon would be the ideal piece for the Celtics to use their historically large TPE on. As it stands Boston is struggling to figure out their starting lineup between whether they should go with two bigs (Theis and Thompson) or smaller (with Tatum at the 4). Gordon could slide in perfectly to the power forward position and add a degree of athleticism to the Celtics’ lineup.

Imagine a Walker-Brown-Tatum-Gordon-Thompson starting lineup come playoff time with Pritchard, Smart, (Grant) Williams & Theis coming off the bench - that would be nightmare fuel for the Eastern Conference the next two years. Add in the fact that Gordon’s contract would time up perfectly through next season with guys like Smart & this becomes even more ideal.

Why ORLANDO does it: Although the Magic did start off the year very hot & looked to be a potential playoff team, they’re starting to cool down a bit as the team we expected them to be. They still have a litany of good young pieces as they continue building into the future so a move like this would only add to that.

Gordon most likely will walk after next year (2021-22’) & as the trade value for one year rentals continues to depreciate in the modern NBA, moving him now would probably make the most sense. In one fell swoop, in this trade the Magic would bolster their youth by adding 14th overall pick in the 2019 draft, Romeo Langford (who’s still just 20 years old) & add solid draft capital with a future 1st rounder from Boston along with a future 2nd from Memphis.

Throw in the fact that losing Gordon would hurt the team’s record this year & increase their chances of landing a high lottery pick to potentially get Cade Cunningham, or another big name, in next summer’s draft - then this becomes a no brainer. Sure, Orlando might ask for a bit more here but I’m not positive there’ll be a better offer than a recent lottery-pick & a future 1st rounder out there.