Boston proved no match for Cleveland, dropping each of the first four games of the series.
The Boston Celtics have some nice young pieces.
The million dollar question is where they go from here. Or perhaps it’s a twenty-million dollar question.
Looking at the state of the salary cap, the Celtics have long-term money guaranteed to two players, though the team has many young prospects that could be controlled for three to four more years with team options.
After starting the season on the periphery of the playoffs discussion, the midseason acquistion of Isaiah Thomas sparked the Celtics to a winning record after the trade. Thomas helped push Boston past Indiana, Brooklyn and Charlotte, just to name a few, and into the playoffs.
To say the wheels fell off in the playoffs would be unfair — the Cavs were a team that many predicted to come out of the East. The Celtics were never truly threatening to win any of the games, however. The squad kept each game close, but was unable to secure the defensive stops it needed late to truly contend.
Thomas, as mentioned, is a keeper for the future. The former Washington Husky averaged 19.0 points and 5.4 assists after switching conferences, but a team with Thomas as its best player maxes out at 40-42, swept in the first round.
Marcus Smart and James Young- first round picks a year ago- are destined to grow into bigger roles. Evan Turner provided a unique and affordable option as a secondary ball handler. The team has some good youth inside with Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk and Tyler Zeller. All of these players are under contract through at least next season.
But there needs to be more. Boston is projected to have roughly 20 million dollars in cap space. Picking in the teens will not help much with advancing the current roster, and ideally the pick can be used as bait for a team to take on the contract of Gerald Wallace (1 year, 10.5 million remaining). Given the number of tanking teams currently in the league, expect at least one GM to be highly interested in this possibility.
Who could Boston target?
Big men Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Marc Gasol are all free agents, though it is more than fair to be skeptical that any of the three change jerseys. Greg Monroe seems destined to leave Detroit, and would represent a good fit in Brad Stevens’ system — but at what cost?
The big name amongst post players that could be on the move is DeMarcus Cousins. Rumored to be unsettled in Sacramento, Boston is one of few teams that has the requisite young talent and stash of draft choices to potentially lure Cousins to Boston, but one would have to wonder how high the price would have to be for Vivek Ranadive to deal his franchise player.
Boston is in a great position to be one of the top buyers of the 2015 offseason. A potential starting lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, Jared Sullinger, and Kelly Olynyk can only go so far — and it is exactly what Boston achieved this year.
Danny Ainge will be sitting by his phone, ready to answer that 20 million dollar question, and the success of his answer will guide the franchise over the next few years.
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