There are rumors that the Boston Celtics could trade Marcus Smart along with a future first-round draft pick to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for disgruntled center Nerlens Noel.

Noel has been in the rumor mill since reports went out that Joel Embiid will finally play in the NBA this season. Embiid eventually made his NBA debut and 34 regular season games later, the 22-year-old Cameroonian has proven that he is the Sixers' starting center of the future.

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Noel, the sixth overall pick of the 2013 draft, was relegated to the bench together with another fellow young center, Jahlil Okafor, which had led to more speculations that either of them will get traded in or before the February trade deadline.

The former Kentucky standout had told reporters during the team's pre-season Media Day that it is "silly" for the team to have three starting centers in one roster at the same time. He also said that he would be willing to be traded to another squad to fix the Sixers' current logjam at the center spot and seems like it is only a matter of time before the club obliges.

Meanwhile, the Celtics are still "in need of a rim protector" as shot blocking is the only known weakness of current starting center Al Horford. There had been speculations that team president Danny Ainge is ready to include the team's 2017 first-round pick from Brooklyn in a deal to acquire a defensive-minded center.

With those premises, Fansided suggested a trade sending backup point guard Smart and the said Brooklyn first-round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for Noel.

The Sixers are also in need of a veteran point guard to complement their young bigs, but Smart is said to be not the ideal floor general to play alongside Embiid, Dario Saric, and Ben Simmons because of his poor outside shooting skills. However, the 2017 first-rounder could be enough to sway Philly to agree, according to the report.

TagsNBA Trade Rumors, NBA Trade Rumors 2017, Nerlens Noel, philadelphia 76ers, Marcus Smart, Boston Celtics