There’s been a lot of chatter in Las Vegas around the NBA’s summer league circuit, and according to Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, the chances of trading Westbrook — a perennial all-star who averaged 23.5 points, 10.4 assists and 7.8 rebounds per game last season — appear to be increasing. Even more, there’s a team that’s emerging as the frontrunner among rival general managers.

“What I’m hearing in Las Vegas from some GMs, not only are they hearing that Westbrook will get traded, it’s that it will be sooner rather than later — before the season starts — and the most likely destination is the Boston Celtics,” Beck said in a Bleacher Report video.

Beck cites Presti’s willingness to trade assets such as Reggie Jackson and Serge Ibaka as previous instances where the Thunder were aggressive in dealing players before their contracts expired. And given the number of assets that the Celtics have between draft picks and young prospects, such as Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown, the two sides seem to be a theoretical match, according to Beck.

“Anyone who has been following the NBA the last couple of years, Boston has been loading up on assets, including those great picks from the Brooklyn Nets. They’ve got a bunch of young players and they can create a package that can get Westbrook there without giving up key pieces,” Beck said. “They could still have Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, hold onto Jae Crowder, presumably, and add Westbrook to that. That’s the challenge for any team trying to trade for Westbrook. Not only do you have to be concerned about his free agency next summer, but you’ve got to be able to trade for him while still having enough players for him to play with when he arrives.”

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Of course, just about every team who’s looking for a star will be interested in the Thunder’s electric dynamo of a superstar. Chris Broussard of ESPN recently told MSG that the Lakers believe they can sign Westbrook as a free agent in the summer of 2017.

“The Lakers think they can sign him,” Broussard said. “And I was talking to some executives yesterday about possible trades they might do or offer. And I was told they think they can sign him as a free agent, so why should they give up anything?”

David Aldridge of Turner previously reported that there’s no chance that Westbrook will re-up in Oklahoma City before the end of his contract.