The Boston Celtics may be on their way to losing both Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in free agency this summer, but Celtics president Danny Ainge says that the team remains a very plausible destination for other free agents.
“We have a very attractive franchise to play for, and there’s a lot of people who would be dying to come play here,” said Ainge, according to Jay King of The Athletic.
Historically, the Celtics have not been known as a franchise that lands big-name free agents, but since 2016, they have actually done very well on the free-agent market.
During the summer of 2016, they signed Horford. Then, the following year, they signed Gordon Hayward, in addition to trading for Irving.
Article Continues BelowUnfortunately for Ainge, his dreams fell flat when Hayward suffered a gruesome broken leg injury on opening night of the 2017-18 campaign. Then, later on that season, Irving dealt with a knee issue that would ultimately require surgery, knocking him out for the playoffs.
The C's would still go on to make it all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals that year, however, leading many to believe that Boston would be the clear-cut favorite in the East once Hayward and Irving returned the following season.
But, things did not go as planned, as Hayward struggled to return to form throughout the entire 2018-19 campaign, and locker room issues largely promoted by Irving ended up derailing the team.
Now, the Celtics are having to enter rebuilding mode much sooner than they—or anybody—thought.