The basketball God’s have a funny way of showing karma. Whether you think a move is good or bad, the outcome can depend on a multitude of things. Some things that the Boston Celtics have decided to do, particularly Danny Ainge, may have shifted the future of the franchise for better and for worse.
The big thing that everyone is pointing at is the huge trade for Kyrie Irving. Sure, we gave up a first-round draft pick and Jae Crowder, that really doesn’t seem all that bad. The part that really makes me upset is trading away Isaiah Thomas, the Point Guard who basically made the franchise relevant again. The man who Celtics fans across the world can relate to and inspire to be. They traded him for Kyrie Irving, another Point Guard with similar play-style that never wanted to be here, to begin with.
When we look at Thomas’ career now, do I think it is the right move? Sure, I guess. However, with a player like that who embraced that team and that city he brought more value than anything Kyrie does on the court. Celtics fans don’t want to admit that, but it is true. Danny Ainge built a team around Irving that should have won at least one title. Instead, he squandered all that talent away and filled the room with drama. Now with Irving bailing and Al Horford moving on elsewhere, the question now becomes… what happened and what is next?
What Happened?
I wrote about this in a previous article when the Boston Celtics season ended and Terry Rozier decided to air everything out, but the chemistry was toxic. You can tell as soon as the season started, something was off about this team. Whether it was over-confidence in predictions, players talking about winning five titles or talking about how competitive the practices are; it seemed like it was going to come back and bite them. That’s exactly what happened. I have never seen a team with such high expectations completely crumble this badly.
Numerous reports have come out about how toxic the locker room was, and it all starts and ends with Irving. On multiple occasions, Irving has been at fault for mayhem in Boston. Whether it’s telling people “I don’t owe anyone shit,” “I gave LeBron a call” or this goodie “I would like to be back in Boston if y’all let me” he hasn’t painted himself in a beautiful light. In fact, everything he did has been down-right embarrassing as a leader.
Players were also upset about the way Brad Stevens treated Gordon Hayward and how much leeway he had. There is so much going on here and all of it was right in front of us. The young guys felt entitled because of what they did in 2018. The veterans/guys in their primes felt they deserved the better treatment. The Head Coach had no clue how to handle this mess, and it results with Boston handing in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
What’s Next for Boston?
Things ended on a terrible note, but now Ainge has free-range to bring in new players. Irving is good as gone, Horford is looking at a few situations, now they have cap-space. A few names come to mind when we talk about free agents and who should come to Boston. The primary goal is to try to get Julius Randle to Boston. Randle was an efficient 52 percent shooting while scoring a career-high 21.4 points in 30 minutes. He is a quality starter in this league and a very solid rebounder along with his scoring ability.
Letting Rozier walk is probably the best option, he isn’t a pass first guy. If they were to make Marcus Smart the starting Point Guard, I think that would best while bringing in a scorer as a back-up. Someone like Isaiah Thomas who is looking for playing time and who is familiar with this team would be nice off the bench.
When it comes to the draft picks, anything is fair-game with Ainge. There is a good chance he trades two of those picks for a valuable player like Bradley Beal. There is also a pretty good chance he keeps all four of those picks and tries to get the next best thing. The options Ainge and company are limitless (well somewhat) I truly can’t pinpoint what he exactly wants to do.
How Do I Feel as a Boston Celtics Fan?
If I am being honest, I could definitely be happier than I am right now. I think if Irving leaves (he will leave) then his time in Boston isn’t any better at all than Thomas’, which is who we traded away. Environment matters so much in the NBA, that even if you’re the best-assembled team it will not matter because everyone hates each other. This team on paper was built for greatness, but they didn’t mesh and at times despised each other.
Now, it’s back to square one and I am afraid on a couple of levels. My biggest concern is come free-agency, is anyone going to want to play with the Celtics? Seeing how much Thomas meant to this team and then getting traded, Ainge may be in some hot water. The big goal was to get Anthony Davis, but the problem is Davis wanted no part of the Celtics. Even the father said he doesn’t want his son playing there. There is just no end to my sadness!
There is a legitimate argument the Celtics were title-contenders for a whole five minutes before Hayward’s leg shattered. Once he went down and he was out, that was the end of Boston. Now we watch our two best players walk out the door for free and having the actual possibility that Rozier or Ricky Rubio are the starting Point Guard and Guerschon Yabusele playing actual minutes. So to answer that question, I feel pretty down on the Boston Celtics.
