Report: Celtics Struggling To Find Trad Partner For 3rd Overall Pick

As many people have thought since they were dealt the third overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, it appears the Boston Celtics are looking to trade that pick for an established pro, prior to Thursday night.

Unfortunately for the C's, ESPN's Marc Stein is reporting that Boston's trade targets so far have all been "rebuffed."

According to Stein's report, the C's have been pushing for deals centered around Chicago Bulls star Jimmy Butler, Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward, who played for head coach Brad Stevens at Butler, and both Jabari Parker and Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks.

While Boston GM Danny Ainge has focused on those players, sources have told Stein that none of the teams seem to be willing to swap the young stars for the Celts' pick.

So with a day before the C's are officially "on the clock," hope seems to be running out that they'll find the trade partner they're looking for.

As of now, the only team that is really persuing a trade for the third pick seems to be the Philadelphia 76ers, who hold the number one overall pick and have a stock pile of young bigs that they are looking to thin out.

The report claims that Philly is willing to send either last year's second overall pick Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel to Boston as the center piece of a swap for the third selection. Neither Okafor or Noel, however, happen to fit the ideal mold of what Boston is looking for.

It will be interesting to see what Trader Danny can pull off in the next day.