One piece not enough

Celts two chess moves away

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — It can be difficult to read between the lines of NBA executive-speak — at least that which is uttered in public. With the NBA’s tampering rules, there is so much a general manager cannot say about others. With concern about his own players’ feelings, there is even more that he does not want to say.

So as we step away from a quiet trade deadline for the Celtics, perhaps the most accurate way to decipher what they didn’t do is to see it through the prism of what they need to do.

Each potential transaction needs to be examined for how it would impact subsequent deals. It is very much chess, with a critical need to see the board and the moves ahead. But chess is relatively simple from the standpoint that one is trying to capture one piece, the king.

It’s clear, however, the Celtics believe they still need to bag two major pieces, which is why they didn’t give up the store for Jimmy Butler or Paul George. Leaving aside George’s declaration that he wants to either win in Indiana or bolt as a free agent to the Lakers in 2018 — a pronouncement that made a trade essentially impossible for anyone — acquiring him would have made the needed corollary move more difficult.

The Celts were willing to go deep for the Pacer star and figure the rest out later, but just adding him to what’s here now would still leave them shy of their desired destination.

There is no question president of basketball operations Danny Ainge is amenable to such deals. My first reaction on draft night in 2007 when the Celts traded the No. 5 pick, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West for a nearly 32-year-old Ray Allen was that it made little sense unless there was another shoe to drop.

That more footwear did — and that said sneaker belonged to Kevin Garnett — made the Celtics a true title contender. Take him out of the mix, and the C’s could still be after the 17th banner that adorns the Garden ceiling.

Ainge made a fairly bold step last summer when he signed the No. 2 free agent on the market. (And those who complain about Al Horford’s max contract need to understand that was his established value. If he didn’t get it from the Celts, he would have gotten it elsewhere.)

But Horford, like Allen nine years earlier, was merely the first step in the desired process. By getting him, the C’s had to believe it would help them land the bigger fish, Kevin Durant. When KD Warrior-ed up, Ainge was left to seek alternate routes. He’s still seeking, and right now the Celtics see both the need and opportunity to get two impact players.

Certainly they will revisit the George and Butler situations prior to the draft to see if George’s stance has changed or Chicago has a different expectation for what it can get for Butler. If either is available at the proper price — and, according to league sources, the C’s, the guys who offered four first-round picks for Justise Winslow two years ago, are willing to overpay to a degree — they will pounce on the established talent.

But if there is nothing Ainge believes makes sense, the chances to get those Two Needed Players will be in his hands. The Celtics will have a pick from the Nets that is looking no worse than No. 4, and, after doing some roster cleaning, they will have salary cap space to go after a max contract-level free agent.

With regard to the pick and those who look at the lottery odds and the mere chance of some 25 percent that it could be No. 1 overall, it’s interesting to point out the draft positions of the two players Celtic Nation lit candles for this past week. George was the 10th pick in 2010. Butler went at No. 30, the final choice in the first round, in 2011.

But even after it all shakes out, one shouldn’t look at the roster in, say, mid-July and start projecting it for the next few years or even the end of the 2017-18 season.

The Celtics, when healthy, are a guard-heavy team now, and that will be even more the case if they draft Markelle Fultz or Lonzo Ball.

There will be more shoes to drop.