Not even two days ago, it was reported the Boston Celtics president, Danny Ainge, had his sights on bringing both Gordon Hayward and Paul George to the team this offseason. Now, fast forward to the first day of free agency, the Pacers have traded George to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. Half of that plan has shattered, and it's interesting to think of how Celtic fans are feeling in Boston.
A lot of rumors, little action
Boston has been linked to superstars in George, Jimmy Butler, and Blake Griffin in the recent week. Instead, Butler was shipped to Minnesota, George to OKC, and Griffin opted to resign with the Clippers.
Everyone knows how many Draft Picks the team has. At what point will Ainge pull the plug and start trading away assets?
Celtics fans are wondering when that is going to happen too. Boston made a fantastic run to be the number one team in the east, but it proved they were no match for the Cavaliers in the conference finals. Signing Hayward will be a nice piece, but will it be enough to put them over Cleveland and Golden State?
Hayward was supposed to be the first domino. Then, they could make a run at George, while Griffin was the backup plan. It's clear that they care too much about their future, but the Celtics have the assets to make a run a proven NBA players, instead of potential players.
Celtics wanted to keep Bradley
If the Celtics wanted to pull in Hayward and George, they would have had to get rid of Bradley. There was virtually no way to keep Bradley on the roster if they did. Bradley is the longest tenured Celtic, and plays All-NBA like defense, but is he better than George?
The Celtics must have been scared off that George would not commit to them long term.
Otherwise, they would have made this deal happen to make a potential superteam of George, Hayward, Al Horford, and Isaiah Thomas leading the pack. Now, the Celtics get to keep Bradley, who is a solid player by the way but are still not good enough to get over the hump.
Plan D
Since plan A hasn't happened yet, and plan B and C are out the window, what could the Celtics do?
The Celtics would have to put stock in their future and see how other teams do. The Celtics have enough assets to make a trade for a star player on a failing team.
Take the Pelicans for example. DeMarcus Cousins is a free agent after this season. Anthony Davis will have two years left on his deal. If the Pelicans do not play at a high level, it's likely that Cousins would walk out. The Pelicans are not notorious for bringing in star free agents. The Celtics could wait for next season and put together a package to bring in Davis.
