Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge is lighting the match to trigger major fireworks
The Boston Celtics will reportedly trade the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s NBA draft to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for No. 3.
Are you crazy Danny Ainge? The Boston Celtics get the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft for the first time in lottery history and you trade it?
When the rumors first started swirling that the Celtics were in heavy talks with the Philadelphia 76ers, I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the idea. How could a team pass on a chance to select Markelle Fultz?
I mean, the player visited the team and said he felt like he was destined to wear the green. This is definitely happening this upcoming Thursday…right?
According to TNT analyst David Aldrige, the Fultz to Boston marriage is now nothing but a proposal without a ring. Danny Ainge has agreed to trade the No. 1 overall pick to the rival 76ers in exchange for a potential lottery pick in either 2018 or 2019.
As the trade is expected to happen on Monday, Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers can still mess everything up if they really relish Fultz over Lonzo Ball and offer the Celtics a sweeter deal.
If the Lakers value Josh Jackson at No. 2 (who is who Ainge is reportedly in love with), then things would really become interesting come Thursday night.
Related Story: Making a case for Josh Jackson at No. 1
This made sense all along
The Boston Celtics have a loaded backcourt and adding a player like Fultz or even Lonzo Ball would just clutter that backcourt even more.
What Ainge is doing by trading that No. 1 pick for a player he relishes anyway, is getting something very valuable by making a team like the 76ers think he was sold on Fultz.
Now, the Celtics get a forward in either Jackson or Jayson Tatum (or even Jonathan Issac) and another asset to use in a possible deal for another super star, potentially Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls.
The more I think about it, the more I am encouraged by the deal. I stop short of saying I’m excited about it because there is a chance Magic Johnson screws things up a bit by not selecting Lonzo Ball.
Ainge can take this even further
Then again, if the scenario has Ball dropping to 3, a team like the Sacramento Kings may want to move up. By doing so, they could offer Ainge the 5th and 10th pick overall.
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If they love Issac enough, that could become another notch in Ainge’s pocket. Not only could he offer projected high picks over the next two years, he could offer that 10th pick , one of next year’s projected lottery picks to Chicago along with Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley for Butler.
That still gives Ainge a 2018 high pick and their own 2018 first-round pick to play with. Let’s not forget about the 3 second-picks the team has this year. But, as it stands for this particular deal, the may just come out of it with Josh Jackson and Jimmy Butler.
The next big three or four?
Oh…and that wouldn’t affect their ability to sign either Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin in free agency.
While the 76ers will look promising with Fultz, Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, the Boston Celtics potential lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Jimmy Butler, Gordon Hayward, Josh Jackson and Al Horford may put a roadblock in the Cleveland Cavaliers journey back to the finals sooner rather than later.
I’ve waited two years for some fireworks. It looks like Ainge is finally ready to deliver a grand finale.
Next: Boston Celtics 2016-17 player report card: Marcus Smart
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