Grantland’s Zach Lowe has a fantastic new column where he examines our beloved Celtics and openly wonders about the future. The team’s flirtation with the playoffs has many of us wondering what happened to the rebuild and is this part of the master plan:
“We don’t have any master plan,” Ainge says. “You just hope you have the assets when a deal comes along.”
Something will pop on the superstar trade market. It always does. The Thunder stand as a potential wild card over the next two years, though there is no indication at this point — repeat, no indication! — that they’d think about trading Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant. But recent history suggests some superstar we’re not even thinking about today will become available for some unexpected reason. When that happens, Boston will be in position to strike. But it could take years.
And that’s why Boston is looking hard at another team-construction model: the 2014-15 Hawks, built largely through smart draft picks outside the lottery and killer free-agency signings that fit Mike Budenholzer’s system. You need a great coach to win big without a top-10 player; the Hawks aren’t 56-18 if Larry Drew is still on the sideline. Stevens was Boston’s first key free-agent signing.
No master plan? Excuse me while I close my office door and scream.
In all seriousness, Ainge is creating flexibility to play it either way: target big name players or build a good, well-balanced team. It’s the smart move.
If you are too enamored with making a splash, you end up overpaying guys (Charlie Villanueva, Ben Gordon in Detroit in 2009) or taking injury risks (Amare Stoudemire in NY in 2010) and that’s a killer.
We also learn from Lowe that Ainge really values Avery Bradley:
Avery Bradley is a ravenous defender with legit 3-point range, but he shoots too many long 2s early in the shot clock and needs a dynamic off-the-dribble guy to create shots for him. Ainge loves Bradley and has already answered the question of whether he thinks the 24-year-old will be in Boston when the Celtics rise again: Multiple teams offered low first-round picks and expiring contracts for Bradley at the trade deadline, and Ainge flatly refused, per several league sources.
Wow… I didn’t think Danny was capable of turning down a 1st rounder.
By the way, I’m still waiting for the WEEI blowhards and Gary Tanguay to admit they were wrong about Bradley’s 4 year, $32 million contract.
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