The Boston Celtics find themselves at the top of the Eastern Conference at the moment despite the fact they haven't had Gordon Hayward since opening night due to injury, and the fact they suffered a 20-point loss to the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.

This has largely been doing to the plays of Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown, and Jayson Tatum, but the likes of Al Horford and Marcus Smart have contributed towards the team's success as well. Celtics are reportedly open to offers for Smart before tomorrow's trade deadline as well.

Despite the fact Smart will be a free agent by the summer, Boston believes if he isn't traded by tomorrow, he could be a key part of their playoff run later this season and their chase for an NBA Championship. This is why they have a high asking price in return for the guard.

According to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, the Celtics are not willing to trade Smart for anything less than a player who can add something this season and beyond. Bulpett states that general manager Danny Ainge would only move the guard on if one of two conditions are met.

The report states that Ainge will only move Smart if he can either get a player back who will help the team now, or if they're given an asset which they can use to move for such a player in the near future. Either way, it sounds like they want a like-for-like, or possibly even better player than Smart.

Therefore, the report concludes that while the Celtics still have interest in Memphis Grizzlies’ Tyreke Evans and Los Angeles Clippers’ Lou Williams, it’s unlikely Ainge would trade away Smart for one of these two players since they're in the last year of their deals too unless more was offered in the trade.

For now, the Celtics probably won't be too disappointed if nothing ends up happening between now and the trade deadline since they've already seen what Smart can produce on the court and they know he will be a great asset for them later on in the season during the playoffs.

Yet, with no team at all interested in giving up a first-round draft pick for the guard as he heads toward restricted free agency, they could end up losing a player with a lot of potential for nothing come the end of the season.