The Boston Celtics are entering their most important summer since they acquired Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2007.
The Celtics' rebuilding phase has gone quicker than anyone could have imagined, as they went from 25 wins in 2013-14 to 48 last season. They do need to supplement their roster with at least one top-tier talent in order to make it out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time since 2012.
This is an opportune year for Boston general manager Danny Ainge. He's got the second-lowest payroll right now, per Hoops Hype, and a $94 million salary cap to play with, per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. The Celtics have money to give away if they so choose, though their front office has been successful because it hasn't made poor decisions with its finances.
On this first day of free agency on Friday, here are the top rumors involving the Celtics.
Celtics Secure Meeting With Durant
Assuming LeBron James is going back to the Cleveland Cavaliers and no other team has a shot at him, Kevin Durant is the best player available this summer who could reasonably be expected to sign with a new team.
Fortunately for the Celtics, Durant does have them on the list of teams he will be meeting with this weekend, per TNT's David Aldridge:
Celtics All-Star Isaiah Thomas has left no doubt that he wants Durant to join him in Boston.
"We talked probably last week," Thomas told Charlotte Wilder of USA Today, "so I’ve been in his ear about being on the Celtics and all that. We’ve got a friendly conversation. I’ll do what we can to lure him to be on the Celtics, so we’ll see."
While Durant is smart to give the Celtics a meeting because they are a team on the rise with a talented roster already in place, it's hard to figure out how they stand any higher than fourth among the teams he is meeting with.
Oklahoma City is going to have the advantage by virtue of being Durant's home for his entire NBA career. The Golden State Warriors have arguably the best trio of talent in the NBA already in reigning MVP Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as well as back-to-back appearances in the NBA Finals. The San Antonio Spurs have been the NBA's best-run franchise for nearly two decades.
Even a team like the Los Angeles Clippers, who haven't made it past the second round despite making the playoffs each of the last five years, boast a loaded roster with star players such as Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick.
The only thing the Celtics have to offer is money because their roster isn't better than those of the three Western Conference teams.
It sounds nice to Boston fans that Durant is meeting with the Celtics this weekend, but it's going to take the greatest sales pitch of Ainge's career to make a deal happen.
Dwight Howard's Decision
Dwight Howard is the most fascinating free agent this summer because there seems to be a huge gap between the way he values himself and how NBA teams value him.
ESPN's Chris Broussard and Marc Stein reported the Celtics were able to get a meeting with Howard, though they also noted he's "likely to meet with as many as five teams in free agency" before making a decision.
The number of teams Howard—or any player—will meet with is an underrated factor that could play a huge role in free agency. There are so many free agents to go around, and if signings happen quickly, teams may not want to wait while the market dries up.
Bleacher Report's Howard Beck reported that none of the NBA executives he interviewed believes Howard warrants a max contract of four years and $132 million "or anything close to it":
"Where Dwight is having a hard time is understanding how the game is changing," a person who has worked with Howard told Beck. "There's not a lot of 'walk the ball up, dump it into the post.' Everybody's trying to put more tempo in the game. Everybody wants to shoot more threes. Everybody's trying to play with more movement, more spacing, more cutting. And that's where Dwight's biggest struggle is: his ability to adjust to that."
Yet even with the fan laughter that comes from hearing Howard could ask for a max contract, it's essential to remember there is more money in the NBA than ever before.
Joakim Noah, who has missed 68 games over the last two seasons and has never averaged more than 12.6 points per game in nine NBA seasons, is reportedly going to get $18 million per season from the New York Knicks, per Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post.
Howard is about 10 months younger than Noah, has played in at least 71 games in three of the last four years and even in what was considered a bad 2015-16 season averaged 13.7 points and 11.8 rebounds in Houston.
This isn't to say the Celtics should break the bank for Howard, but they need an upgrade at center because Amir Johnson and Kelly Olynyk are better suited as backups off the bench than starters on a playoff team.
Al Horford's Market
An interesting alternative to Howard this summer is Al Horford, who has quietly been one of the NBA's most productive centers when he's healthy.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, Horford has been worth at least 8.7 win shares in five of the last seven seasons. The big caveat is the two years he didn't reach that mark (2011-12, 2013-14) were because he only played in a total of 40 games because of injuries.
Stein reported the Celtics are among the many teams expected to show interest in Horford, along with the Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets.
Whenever there is that much competition for a player, it's dangerous because the player's camp is going to leverage every offer to get another team to increase its price.
Horford's performance warrants a contract in the range of $20 million, but again, this isn't the style Boston has preferred to use in free agency.
So much of who the Celtics want to add depends on how they view themselves in the Eastern Conference. Their roster doesn't have that one go-to guy. Thomas and Avery Bradley, while talented, haven't shown themselves capable of stepping up under the bright playoff lights.
The Celtics have to add at least one integral piece this summer. Horford's robust market does make Boston's road more difficult, but Ainge has done such a good job of building this roster from nothing that he may have the magic touch to score one of the best big men available.