Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Prepare for the rumor mill to shift into overdrive and the Celtics to once again remain in neutral. My prediction is that Ainge sits tight and saves his franchise-defining decision for the summer. Maybe he adds a rental player to better the Celtics’ odds against LeBron James and the ailing Cleveland Cavaliers, but it’s wiser and safer to make a franchise-defining deal in the summer.
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If there were a no-brainer deal to add a star, Ainge would make it. But a superstar du jour served up on a silver platter isn’t on the menu. It seems unlikely that Ainge can fleece another ex-Celtics teammate the way he did Kevin McHale to obtain Kevin Garnett in 2007.
Ainge always bristles at the suggestion that he bamboozled McHale. But the KG deal was a hoops heist the moment McHale backed off receiving Rajon Rondo in return. Larry Bird, the Indiana Pacers president, isn’t going to get taken in the same fashion with George.
Ainge is dealing with a complicated calculus for contention. As great a two-way player as Butler is, would adding him to fourth-quarter king Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, et al, be enough for the Celtics to topple the LeBrons and the Golden State Warriors in the next few years? Probably not.
If Ainge follows the old Oklahoma City blueprint by adding a Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz, or Josh Jackson with this year’s Brooklyn pick and potentially Michael Porter Jr., college basketball’s next anointed one, next year to Brown, then Horford, who will turn 34 in 2020, is expensive window dressing. What was the point of signing Big Al to a max deal? Do you want to build a team that will be reaching its peak when IT is 31, 32, or 33, or do you want to maximize his prime?
Boston Globe – Decision time is fast approaching for the Celtics
To be a Boston Celtics fan at the trade deadline these last few years is exhausting. It makes my head spin. It almost makes me wish that Danny Ainge never fleeced Billy King three and a half years ago so that the team wasn’t always in the middle of these juicy, often baseless rumors.
I’m kidding, of course, but the fact remains that the NBA trade deadline is once again getting New Englanders sucked in like the prospect of a monster winter Nor’Easter. The Meteorologists offer up a forecast model nearly a week out that calls for Armageddon, we all start flipping out, buying groceries, and, as a former teacher, I started dreaming of a week home from school. We keep our eyes glued to the TV, or twitter for storm updates and then we start hearing about that other, more conventional forecast model that calls for the storm to simply graze us while the real action heads out to sea. When we get hit with a few inches, we all curse out Pete Bouchard and Harvey Leonard and swear that we’ll never get sucked into the winter weather hype again. All it takes is a few weeks and another area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico to get us all irrationally excited once more.
Sound familiar? Take a look at this article from Bleacher Report at this time last year. Dwight Howard or Blake Griffin were projected to be on the move and the Celtics, according to “unnamed sources,” were right in the thick of the rumors.
Twitter needs something to talk about. Writers need things to write about. People click on and read through stories about stars rumored to be on the move. Paul George isn’t going anywhere. Jimmy Butler also isn’t going anywhere. Let’s get back to basketball and the Cs nationally televised game tomorrow night in Toronto, ok?
Chris Gasper clearly lays out the choices for Danny Ainge today (stand pat, cash in the chips) and the effects of each choice. He also predicts that Ainge will wait for the summer to truly decide which choice to make. I agree. The storm’s going to miss. We can all go back to real life now until Draft Night comes around.
Related Links:
Globe – Stand pat, Danny
Herald – It appears Celtics boss Danny Ainge will hold onto his future assets at the trade deadline
CSNNE – 5 reasons why Boston Celtics standing pat may be their best move
On page 2, may I interest you in JaMychal Green?
3. One name Bulpett mentioned that could be more in range, P.J. Tucker, has been reported as a possibility before. Another, JaMychal Green, came as a surprise. Though he can stretch the floor, would represent a rebounding upgrade, and doesn’t have any money owed to him after this season — all positives from Boston’s perspective — he also starts for the Memphis Grizzlies, a quality Western Conference playoff team. Don’t ask me what a trade for him would include.
Mass Live – Boston Celtics trade rumors 2017: Andrew Bogut unlikely; JaMychal Green, PJ Tucker could be more in range
In 2015, with the Celtics flirting with the eighth seed, Danny Ainge swung for Isaiah Thomas, Jonas Jerebko and Gigi Datome. In a brief look back at the tea leaves leading up to that deadline, those names weren’t brought up much, if at all, around these parts.
It’s likely that Danny Ainge, in looking to make cosmetic changes to the roster that can patch over deficiencies like rebounding and bench scoring, is inquiring about players that haven’t been rumored to move.
Not sure where Steve Bulpett got Green’s name from, but I’m with Jay King here– Green probably costs you a first rounder and unless you see him starting next to Al Horford, I don’t know if it’s worth what the Celtics would have to give up.
Anyways, I offer Green up as an example of a name that just dropped onto our radar last night/this morning. If the Celtics do make a deal, it could be for a similarly underreported guy.
And finally, let’s hope the Wizards are done dealing
This might work out for Washington. The Wizards need frontcourt depth, and Bogdanovic could make the now-unwatchable second unit strong enough to keep games within reach. But he will be a free agent after the season. This should be clear: Trading a first-round pick for Bogdanovic was a Win-Now Move with a branded Grunfeld Twist.
Bogdanovic scored 14.2 points per game for Brooklyn this season, which will go a long way for a Wizards bench that scores the second-fewest points in the league. He also led all scorers at the Olympics! But NBA Bogdanovic is a spotty 3-point shooter and won’t be getting many open looks if he’s regularly paired with Jason Smith and Co. And McCullough has struggled to find minutes for the Nets. This will certainly make the Wizards better in the short term, but if you believe that these are the missing pieces in a Washington title run, you are more optimistic than I am.
The Ringer – The Wizards added Bojan Bogdanovic to their bench in a bizarre, win-now move
This is not Lou Williams, and for that, I’m relieved. Bogdanovic is fine, and gives the Wiz some scoring punch, but as a direct competitor for a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals this spring, I’m not feeling as though the Celtics now need to make a move to keep pace with anything Washington has done. Hopefully Bogdanovic is ok with wearing all black for meaningless regular season “funerals.”
The rest of the links:
Herald – Five potential Celtics moves for NBA trade deadline
ESPN – Should Celtics chase Jimmy Butler or Paul George at trade deadline
Mass Live – Paul George, amid trade rumors, says he’s committed to turning Indiana Pacers around | Paul George trade rumors: Indiana Pacers might just be collecting information about the market
