The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Ainge, Celtics in driver’s seat as offseason heats up
The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers have dominated the basketball world for the past few months.
Friday’s reports that the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are engaged in serious talks to swap picks at the top of next week’s NBA Draft, however, served as a reminder that for the next several weeks, it’s the Celtics who will be the NBA’s most intriguing team.
There is real momentum behind the talks, which center on Boston sending the No. 1 overall pick in Thursday’s draft to Philadelphia for the No. 3 pick plus at least another first rounder - likely the unprotected pick the Los Angeles Lakers owe the 76ers next year. But this would also be far from the first time that the Celtics toed the line of making a big move only to pull back at the last minute to reassess their options.
Actually pulling the trigger on trading away the ability to draft Washington star Markelle Fultz — the consensus top player in this draft and the kind of player Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge has been hoping to get his hands on since his draft night deal with Brooklyn in 2013 — is the definition of a big move.
But whether the Celtics eventually bite the bullet and make the trade is beside the point. What matters here is that we’ve entered a stretch in which the Celtics control the fate of this offseason, which could have major ramifications for 2017-2018 and beyond.
There isn’t another team in the NBA with more directions it can go than Boston. Fresh off a trip to the conference finals and armed with both the No. 1 overall pick and enough salary cap space to lure an all-star this summer, the Celtics could either shift into a full rebuild, try to properly challenge the Cavaliers atop the Eastern Conference or stick with the hybrid approach they’ve taken for the last two seasons — competing now while developing players such as last year’s No. 3 overall pick, Jaylen Brown.
That’s why, for months now, any and every rumor has been credible when it comes to the Celtics. They have the ammunition to chase after someone such as Indiana Pacers forward Paul George or Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler, no matter what they do next week. In addition, they have the combination of talent and organizational stability to get in the mix next month for free agents such as Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward and Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin.
But they also have to balance those choices with the ones they have to make over the course of the next year. Boston will face the impending free agencies of its three top guards - Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart (who is restricted) — next summer, meaning this is their best chance to strike it big on the free agent market. They’ll have to decide whether they’re willing to invest heavily in those three players: Thomas is going to want a full max contract that’ll start at more than $30 million per year, and the decision on what to do with him could completely change the team’s direction.
All of this leaves Boston as the team holding the cards this summer, with the potential to change the fortunes of several other teams. Hayward choosing to go to Boston as a free agent would send Utah from looking like a team set to be in the top four in the West for years to come, to one that would essentially be forced to start over. Moving on from Butler or George would irrevocably change the paths for the Bulls and Pacers, as well, fully committing two teams that have perennially been in the playoff picture in the East to rebuilding while putting a true superstar on the Celtics, the one thing the franchise, to this point, has lacked.
Friday’s news put Boston squarely in the middle of the NBA rumor mill heading into the weekend. And whether the trade with Philadelphia happens between now and Thursday, that’s where the Celtics will stay for the foreseeable future.
How they handle being in this position will determine what’s next both for them and for the rest of the NBA.