With a pivotal moment in a tumultuous summer for the Boston Celtics nearly upon them, news is breaking the team may not only be seeking to move up in tonight’s NBA Draft but may also be looking to add an “established veteran” in a trade, according to the Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
With the 14th, 20th, 22nd and 51st picks of this year’s draft and first-round pick owed by the Memphis Grizzlies — top-six protected in 2020 and unprotected in 2021– on top of their own going forward, Boston could conceivably do both.
What’s more likely to transpire, however, is Boston going with whichever prospect brings more perceived value to their unexpected lurch towards the youth movement. With guard Kyrie Irving and big man Al Horford likely on their way to other teams, and center Aron Baynes on the block to generate some cap space, these moves make sense.
Expect a veteran big man to be at least a secondary target in free agency, perhaps in the range of the full mid-level exception.
Of course, if the right veteran is on the table, don’t be surprised to see the team surrender the bulk of their cap room to a big with the right age and, after last season, temperament for Boston’s age curve and style of play. Currently, the team can get to $23 million in space by moving Baynes into space and could free up nearly $38 million if they renounced all their pending free agents.
With a still-formidable war-chest of assets at their disposal and the league in as much flux as it has been in a half-decade or more, the range of scenarios and outcomes tonight is so broad that it’s difficult to pin down exactly what Celtics president and general manager Danny Ainge might be planning.
Under Ainge’s tenure, the Celtics have tended to make their bigger moves when he’s being most quiet. For the past week, Ainge has scarcely made himself available to the media, even despite the expectation that high-profile players will begin their exodus out of Boston on June 30.
Buckle up. This could be a wild ride indeed.
