The Boston Celtics stood pat again. This is the third straight major NBA trading event during which the Celtics have opted out and kept their powder dry.
The Celtics didn’t trade for a big star again. They’re still the envy of the NBA
Why criticize a team that should win more than 50 games, has a 46-percent chance at a top-two pick and has no bad contracts?
Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images
There is evidence that general manager Danny Ainge tried quite hard to acquire Jimmy Butler or Paul George in the final week before the deadline. A deal for the former reached an apparent stalemate over Jae Crowder, while the latter was reportedly undone by the star’s desire to join the L.A. Lakers in 2018.
Neither deal, nor a move for Jahlil Okafor or anyone else, came through. So the narrative immediately becomes Boston’s refusal to swing a big deal to get over the top in the Eastern Conference.
Meanwhile, Boston is on pace for 53 wins, its most in six years. Meanwhile, Boston is a solid No. 2 in the East, only three games behind battered Cleveland for No. 1 and with a two-game lead on Washington and a four-game lead on Toronto. Meanwhile, Boston’s roster skews young, with an average age just under 26 and only one rotation player (Al Horford) over the age of 29. Meanwhile, other than Horford, not a single player is due more than $8.8 million next season.
The Celtics are very good, quite young and have a clean cap sheet. If they did not have a slew of draft picks and attractive prospects, no one would complain about the lack of a deadline blockbuster. It is only because Boston has the assets to swing a huge deal that we demand they do so.
We should celebrate that Ainge tried to bring in a second superstar to play with Isaiah Thomas and the deep roster around him. Adding either Butler or George without giving up multiple high-end rotation players (in other words, just one of Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley, or Marcus Smart) would have been a boon and threatened the Cavaliers seriously.
But there were really no other options out there that would provide a significant upgrade. Adding Danilo Gallinari isn’t a big needle mover. If the Celtics aren’t good enough to challenge the Cavaliers or beat Toronto or Washington without Gallinari, they aren’t good enough to do it with him. The same applies to Okafor, who remains intriguing (especially paired with a good point guard), but isn’t the difference between a promising 53-win team and a champion.
If the Celtics aren’t going to grab an All-NBA caliber player at this point, and considering they have quite a complete roster already, why exactly is it imperative that the Celtics make a trade?
Instead, the Celtics will stand a very strong chance this May of winning their first playoff series since 2012 and winning the NBA Draft Lottery. The Celtics have the Nets’ pick, and Brooklyn is more-or-less locked into the worst record in the NBA at this point. As such, Boston has a 46 percent chance of winning the No. 1 or 2 pick in the draft. The top two prospects are Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball, who are projected to be franchise cornerstones. If fortune does not smile on the Celtics, they will fall no further than No. 4 overall.
Brooklyn, still bad for the foreseeable future, owes Boston another pick, too. Jaylen Brown is but a blossom of the player he can become. And the Celtics have future picks due from the Grizzlies and Clippers, as well.
These assets will all be there in June, once we better understand just how good the Celtics are. It is quite clear the team is better than it was last season — it turns out Al Horford is good — and the playoffs should bear that out. If the playoffs end and it’s clear Boston is far away from truly contending for a championship, Ainge will be able to determine whether adding another very high pick or flipping assets for realized talent will best help their chances.
Boston has the luxury of time. There is no ticking clock creating pressure. That doesn’t mean this will all work out perfectly — things rarely do in the NBA or anywhere on this brittle, dark world — but the Celtics are still set up as a model franchise without swinging a big deal. Urgency is a constraint created by intractable outside forces. What is there to pressure the Celtics but their own aims?
Nothing, and so the Celtics did nothing. For now.
