The Boston Celtics have some decisions to make once July 1 hits.
Some of those decisions will surround what Kyrie Irving decides to do with his player option. With rumors swirling intently that Irving will certainly not be with Boston next season, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge will need to set his sights on an alternative direction for his team.
While going through with the marriage plans with Kyrie Irving is still in the cards, the Celtics can’t afford to become a jilted lover with no direction or no backup plan.
With questions also surrounding key contributors like Al Horford, Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris, Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis, Ainge has to decide which players to keep and what type of players he wants to bring in.
What makes this the summer of 2019 so exciting is how many top-level free agents are available and will be changing teams. Will the Boston Celtics be involved in a major move?
They will definitely be rumored in some free agent destinations. Although the team can’t shy away from elite talent, here are three big-name free agents they should avoid.
Rudy Gay
Don’t get me wrong, Rudy Gay would be a nice player, depending on the structure of the roster.
However, as we learned from the 2018-19 NBA season, another wing scorer is the last thing the Boston Celtics need if the roster still consists of Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and perhaps Marcus Morris.
Even if Kyrie Irving takes his talents to Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles or Japan, there won’t be enough ball to go around.
Although the Celtics could never have enough scorers and Gay is certainly one, averaging 13.7 points on 50.4 percent shooting for the San Antonio Spurs during the 2018-19 NBA season, adding Rudy Gay would just create another log jam at the position again.
Unless Gay, who will be 33 entering the 2019-20 season, is willing to take on more of a veteran leadership role and accept less playing time, this is an addition that would be wasted money depending on the length of the contract and what role Rudy Gay would be willing to take.
Still, the rumors will be there. But Danny Ainge should stay away from Gay unless a trade occurred that see either Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown or Gordon Hayward are shipped out of town.
Jimmy Butler
A player who has been connected in rumors with the Boston Celtics over the past few seasons is Jimmy Butler.
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Again, a nice offensive player with a great defensive presence, Butler is a nice player on the floor. However, the way he forced his way out of Minnesota spells more drama the Celtics don’t need.
Besides, he seems to have Los Angeles Lakers written all over him so Danny Ainge shouldn’t even pick up the phone and give Butler’s agent a call.
Unless the Celtics GM has some master plan up his sleeve to get another superstar not named Kyrie Irving or Anthony Davis to Boston, adding Jimmy Butler has the potential of Kyrie all over again, especially given the fact that he doesn’t like playing with young players.
He is also dead on a max contract, which the Celtics would have to do some massive roster overhaul to give him.
"“Knock on wood, I will get a max contract no matter where I go,” Butler said at the end of the year, as transcribed by CBS Philadelphia. “You always want to be able to win. I think that’s key, for sure. You’re looking at coaches, you’re looking at the city. There’s a lot that goes into it.”"
The issue here isn’t whether Jimmy Butler is a good player and an important addition to any team, it is whether he is a max player. Some team will give him the money that says that he is, but that team need not be the Boston Celtics.
DeMarcus Cousins
Like Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins has been linked in rumors with the Boston Celtics since he sported the Sacramento Kings uniform.
We know Danny Ainge likes him, but Cousins is a no because he simply does not fit in Boston. He is a big man who can stretch the floor, but just not any star can play under Brad Stevens and his system. If Kyrie Irving wasn’t proof of that, I don’t know what would be.
It’s not just an eruptive demeanor that makes Cousins not a fit, it’s his injury history with the Achilles that should make any team cause for pause in signing him to a long-term deal.
His 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds a game playing in the All-Star lineup known as the Golden State Warriors is nothing to sneeze about, but his value comes more as a complimentary piece than it does as perhaps one of a new big three.
I can see Danny Ainge entertaining the idea, and who wouldn’t with a player with the size and skill DeMarcus Cousins has. But, as the Boston Celtics learned in the 2018-19 NBA season, chemistry and buying in to the system is what makes or breaks the success of the team.
Talent alone doesn’t make a winner. It takes the right kind of talent. Although Rudy Gay could fit depending on the roster, both Jimmy Butler and DeMarcus Cousins aren’t fits with the kind of collective team the Celtics hope to be.