Do you remember when Chris Paul was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011 and footage “surfaced” of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan hearing the news before giddily jumping up and down repeating the phrase “Lob City, baby”?

If not, well, I basically just summed it all up for you. In no world is Al Horford joining a formidable Celtics team as aesthetically exciting as two of the most powerful dunkers getting to play with the NBA’s best point guard. But I still prefer to think there is iPhone footage out there of Avery Bradley and Brad Stevens finding out about Horford’s decision while high-fiving and shouting “Back Door Cut Central, baby!” or “Disciplined Man Defense City!”

The Celtics landed a legitimate All-Star in free agency, and now they have the feel of being a few dominoes away from title contention. What do you do with a borderline superstar and a bunch of assets? Any NBA message board, Reddit thread, comment section, or Twitter reply will tell you that it’s time to make a trade. That logic, if a little impatient, is not necessarily flawed. The right trade could transform the Celtics into one of the NBA’s elite. The mistake would be to center all those trade possibilities around a package that includes Bradley.

Horford and Bradley are a match made in basketball nerd heaven. They are two of the rare NBA players who take nothing away from their teammates while still having a level of production that’s independent of the roster around them. “Fit” is not an issue with these two guys.

Both players can stretch the floor (Bradley made 147 three pointers last season), but aren’t high volume shooters. Horford is a terrific and willing passer out of the high post, and Bradley is one of the best off-ball cutters in the NBA.

Their offensive games aren’t explosive, but they don’t take shots away from their teammates, and defenses have to respect them; give either of them space or let them get position off-the-ball and they’ll make you pay. 

Most importantly, they are both defensive specialists that can anchor that side of the ball. Bradley is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. A lot of players have confidence in their shot, in their handles, in their rim protection, or their athleticism. Bradley has confidence in his lateral foot speed. It’s a weird sort of thing to heat check, but you’ll see it when he invades the space of a Steph Curry, Chris Paul, or Kyrie Irving with zero fear of what they could do to his ankles. Make no mistake, it’s a physical skill, and fatiguing players like that with effective perimeter defense is a huge asset come playoff time. Horford is simply an intelligent defender with the strength and speed to guard anyone in the post.

Could a star-caliber player have a greater net impact than Bradley? Most likely, but Horford and Bradley make such a nice foundation because of their flexibility. You can add literally any player to that pairing, and the transition will be seamless. Between the two of them they can play four positions without any drop-off in their games. They don’t really have weaknesses, only roles they don’t thrive in as well as others. Bradley is far from an offensive creator, but he’s a strong ball handler who would flourish in a pass heavy offense like the Spurs have run the past few years. 

The benefit of having so many assets is the luxury of being able to treat Bradley like more than that. If a trade is truly on the horizon then Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown, or Brooklyn’s first round pick next summer are all chips that can bring in quite a haul if shopped individually or (especially) together.

All those assets have appeal that make them scary to part ways with. Crowder’s contract is an absolute steal for the Celtics. Brown is a rookie with high upside, and Brooklyn’s pick in next year’s loaded draft could yield a transcendent player. But that’s exactly why they are appealing to other teams. You only trade those assets for a proven contributor or star, and if you can pair that star with Bradley and Horford then the present is already as bright as the future ever looked. 

Bradley has been linked to trade rumors involving Jimmy Butler and Eric Bledsoe. The former has to be tempting, the latter seems baffling. Butler would make a difference in any circumstances, but he would thrive alongside Horford and Bradley. Dangling Jaylen Brown and Crowder might seem crazy, but Brown’s ceiling is probably Butler’s current level of production.

As a pairing, Bradley and Horford can keep a team competitive with consistent defense alone. There’s no rush for the Celtics to make a trade this season, but if they do, it’d be wise to avoid sending Bradley out of Boston.