We can all agree that the Boston Celtics are at least one piece away from being a legitimate NBA Finals contender, right?
OK, maybe we don’t all agree on that. But for the purpose of this exercise, we’re going to assume we’re in lockstep.
So let’s be really straightforward about this: Danny Ainge should be, in a word, shook by how the last day has played out.
The Milwaukee Bucks basically overhauled their roster overnight, with the chief return being the acquisitions of Bogdan Bogdanovic from the Sacramento Kings and Jrue Holiday from the New Orleans Pelicans.
In order to land those two players, they had to part with Eric Bledsoe, Donte DiVincenzo, George Hill, Ersan Ilyasova, D.J. Wilson, two pick swaps and three first-round picks.
Hefty!
Now, of course, this all is in a clear effort to get Giannis Antetokounmpo to sign long-term, so the situations are different between the Celtics and the Bucks.
Even still, the Bucks having to part with a similar package for Holiday (who has a player option after the upcoming season, by the way) that the Los Angeles Lakers did a year ago for Anthony Davis is nuts. Cost of doing business, sure, but nevertheless absurd.
But the Celtics were said to be in on Holiday, though it ultimately was wise of Ainge to not pull the trigger on such a deal knowing what the return ended up being. Holiday, while a nice, impactful player, isn’t what we would call a “star.” He is, however, the piece that pushes a team like the Bucks to the next level.
You know, the type of piece the Celtics need to become a true contender.
So you can see then why this might absolutely be blowing up Ainge’s offseason plans. If teams are looking around at what type of haul the Bucks had to part with for guys like Bogdanovic and Holiday, do you think they’re going to just give away, say, Myles Turner or Victor Oladipo or Nikola Vucevic? No shot.
Boston can afford to play the long game here, and unless it’s bringing in someone like James Harden, trading a piece like Jaylen Brown doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Nor does moving Kemba Walker, and obviously Jayson Tatum is the lone untouchable.
That leaves Gordon Hayward as one of the only true trade pieces (assuming he opts in), with Marcus Smart being the other — though all of New England might have a collective conniption if Ainge moves the latter.
The Celtics don’t really have the cap space to make a move of note in free agency. If they truly want to find that impact player, it’s probably going to have to be through a trade. Milwaukee might’ve just set the market for the types of players Boston would be adding, and it’s hard to imagine the Celtics striking a similar deal that actually makes them better in both the short and long term.
Maybe Ainge pulls a rabbit out of the proverbial hat and swings a deal that actually looks worthwhile. But the trade market just got turned upside down, and we’re only a couple weeks away from training camps starting, meaning the wait-and-see approach GMs usually can take probably isn’t going to work this year.
But the Celtics need to figure something out, and Jon Horst didn’t do them any favors.
