Though they lost Gordon Hayward on opening night to a gruesome injury, then later Kyrie Irving to knee surgery, the Boston Celtics managed to persevere. In fact, the C's made it all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals before seeing their season come to an end. Now, with the 2017-18 season in the books, the team is shifting their focus towards improvement.
The Celtics will have a few decisions to make this offseason, as they currently have three unrestricted free agents, including Shane Larkin, Greg Monroe, and Aron Baynes.
According to most reports, Monroe isn't expected to remain with the team, and Larkin is expected to receive several offers from around the league. However, Baynes is a player the Celtics would like to keep, despite not owning his Bird Rights. The only problem would be salary cap space. Baynes would have to be willing to sign a one-year deal with the C's at a reasonable price to compete on a championship-caliber team. Remember, though, other teams were watching Baynes' progress this season, which might spice things up a bit this offseason.
“The Celtics should make Baynes an offer with the lure of competing for another championship — he won a ring with the 2014 San Antonio Spurs — and hope he takes a one-year deal at a discount with that promise,” Gary Washburn writes in his recent article for The Boston Globe. “That’s unlikely, but it’s worth a shot, especially since Baynes said he thoroughly enjoyed himself this season.”
Baynes, now 31 years of age, played 81 games for the Celtics in the 2017-18 regular season (67 starts), racking up averages of 6.0 points on 47.1 percent shooting from the field, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 18.3 minutes per game.
The Celtics (55-27 and 2nd in Atlantic) could use Baynes' presence in the paint, but will he accept a discount deal to make another run?
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