If former Memphis Grizzlies vice president John Hollinger is right, the Boston Celtics may indeed be looking to make a trade before the February deadline — but not, as many assumed, for a big man.

While much ink has been spilled on how the team might upgrade its frontcourt and the difficulties of matching salaries for the handful of impact players at the four or five who might realistically be dealt, Hollinger believes Boston might go in an entirely different direction.

With so few players in the league able to do much to contain (never mind control) the offensive output of players like East rivals Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo even without considering whether they might be dealt, the former Memphis executive thinks the Celtics wing rotation could perhaps use a boost.

“ source tells me that the Celtics may … be looking in a completely different direction,” than upgrading their bigs, explains Hollinger in a recent article in the Athletic.

“The centers Boston could acquire that would be upgrades on their current roster all make north of $20 million, which makes trading for them virtually impossible without surrendering a key player such as Marcus Smart,”

he adds, addressing the dearth of likely targets available to Boston.

For those who have been paying as much attention to the Celtics’ defeats as their victories, the losses haven’t been the fault of their frontcourt players. In fact, some of those big men have been something of a surprise, even to Hollinger.

“Daniel Theis is playing well and Robert Williams shows enough flashes to believe he could be a force by this spring; so how much would they really be improving themselves?”he asks, referencing the limited role and better-than-anticipated play Boston has gotten from their bargain-basement frontcourt.

Hollinger’s source instead wonders if the team might trade for “another perimeter player, particularly a wing or forward” given the importance of the position’s play to the team’s overall schema on both ends of the floor.

“The Celtics currently stretch their five best players across four positions, but an injury to even one of them leaves their rotation badly out of whack, as the dropoff from Marcus Smart to the Brad Wanamakers and Semi Ojeleyes at the back end of their roster is severe.”

The anonymous source makes a good point — Boston has done well even with a limited group of big men available in recent games, not looking any worse for the wear.

It’s hard to imagine the team having the same record with extended absences for Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum. Harder still when you consider neither Smart nor Gordon Hayward have been especially healthy this season.

Who are some of the more likely candidates that fit the bill described by Hollinger’s source? A quick survey of teams near the bottom of the standings with contracts in the range the team could make a move for without trading key players produces a few intriguing candidates, roughly $10 million or less.

Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans, for example, would be an ideal target, earning $7 million this season while recording 15.4 points, 4.9 boards and 1.7 assists over 30 minutes per contest, hitting 43.4 % of his shots from deep and half of his attempts from two.

Except, at least officially, the Wiz are not looking to move Bertans, who, at 27 years old, is perhaps still young enough to rebuild with or at least use as part of a larger deal to pair with ailing point guard John Wall and his longtime backcourt partner Bradley Beal next season.

Dario Saric — now with the Phoenix Suns — could be another such option, earning $3.4 million in 2019-20 while shooting 34.3 % from beyond the arc and 55 % on two-pointers, the caveat being enticing the Suns to pull the trigger.

A bit more modest offensively than Bertans, Saric makes up for it by pulling down 7.3 boards a game along with 11.6 points and 2.1 assists over 28.3 minutes a contest.

There are likely other candidates worth considering as well that fit the bill described by Hollinger and his source, and plenty of time for others to emerge with all of January and then some before the February 7th deadline to get a deal done.

While it’s possible Boston could indeed go after a defensive big man in a non-blockbuster trade, Hollinger presents an unexpected but sensible alternative that very well could be the direction president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and company elect to take.

But given how few games a 20-7 Celtics have played together with their full complement of players due to a full slate of early-season injuries, it’s also plausible this is the team we see in the postseason come April.