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Perhaps the most interesting team to follow this offseason was the Boston Celtics. With their plethora of draft picks and young assets, it felt like something big could happen every day.
On draft night, the fireworks remained on the ground as Boston held on to their picks, selecting Jaylen Brown third overall, Guerschon Yabusele with the 16th pick, and Ante Žižić at number 23.
According to Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge, the rise in the cap and the timing of free agency played a role in Boston's reluctance to make a move that evening.
From Ainge's interview on Larry H. Russell’s “Celtics Beat” podcast:
“Most teams, the free agency determines the direction of the offseason…the calendar should be flipped…this summer there were 20-something teams with maximum cap space…many of those teams were sitting on that money at draft time…for the 1% hope of a maximum free agent coming to them.”
Ainge went on to explain why the Celtics pulled the trigger on Brown at third overall, a selection that drew criticism from the media and some fans in New England:
Article Continues Below“We thought he was the best player available and the best player to fit our roster. He fits very easily…playing time is a huge factor in development…most scouts would have ranked Jaylen extremely high before his freshman year…we felt like he had a solid freshman year, maybe not as high as expectations…it’s just amazing the expectations these highly rated high school prospects have…they’re narratives that don’t tell the whole story.”
Not surprisingly, Ainge admits that Boston was heavily involved in trade talks, but a combination of the confidence they have in their current core as well as the price tags being too high led to the Celtics holding off:
“We were aggressive in trade talks but those depend on price. We were just trying to make the best decisions we can….We’re trying to get a star but price matters. If our fans saw the prices on some of the trades, they’d say ‘Yeah they made the right decision.’
“It’s hard to improve via trade on the guys we have. You can’t just go pick up guys better than Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Jae Crowder — they usually aren’t available. We feel good about our players.”
Finally, Ainge brought up the Celtics' “Plan A,” which was to acquire both Kevin Durant and Al Horford in free agency. Even though KD didn't end up signing, landing Horford was monumental for the franchise going forward, as Ainge makes light of with a baseball metaphor:
“We had no idea on Al’s intentions…no idea on how much he liked us. Our goal last deadline was to maintain double max cap space…we were holding out for the home run…the home runs are what help you win championships.”
They didn't hit the grand slam with Durant, but the two-run homer with Al Horford could be a difference-maker in the Celtics' rise back to the championship circle.
(h/t to Bobby Manning of CelticsBlog)
