It’s that time of the year again. Draft night is a few days away from us. We are now hearing rumors and speculations about the Boston Celtics moving up to the draft. A recent trade rumor says that the Boston Celtics are willing to trade Jaylen Brown for the fifth pick belonging to the Dallas Mavericks. However, Dallas wants Jayson Tatum, according to Mike Fisher. Now that Kawhi Leonard wants out of San Antonio things, just got crazier. What will the Celtics and Danny Ainge do? Will he shock everyone again?
Current Situation
Let’s be realistic here. The Celtics just finished an injury-ridden season and defied the expectations of everyone. During the first game against the Cavs, Gordon Hayward suffered a season-ending injury. Kyrie Irving also went down because of his troubling knee issues and decided to get surgery. Daniel Theis, who is a very good role-player and shocked the league with his hustle and timely shooting also injured his meniscus. These guys never played an entire season for us. The good news is they are all expected to be back in training camp.
What if these guys played the whole season?
That is the result we will never know.
This draft class is full of promising players. We all know what Danny Ainge did back in 2013. But this time is different. We now have promising young players like Tatum, Brown, Ojeleye, and Rozier. We have a great group of experienced players like Baynes (who’s a free agent), Horford, Hayward, and Kyrie.
Will Danny Ainge pull the trigger again and shock the world? Or will he stand pat and wait for the future?
If Danny Ainge stands pat this offseason, here are the Celtics future first round picks:
2018
No. 27 overall
2019
Sacramento Kings’ top-1 protected pick
Memphis Grizzlies (If pick falls outside top-8)
Los Angeles Clippers (If pick falls outside top-14)
Boston Celtics’ own pick
2020
Memphis Grizzlies (If the pick has not yet been conveyed and falls outside top-6)
Los Angeles Clippers (If the pick has not yet been conveyed and falls outside top-14)
Boston Celtics’ own pick
2021
Memphis Grizzlies (If the pick has not yet been conveyed. Pick would be unprotected)
Boston Celtics’ own pick
Win Now Mode
If Danny Ainge decides to light up the fireworks, he can trade that future picks for a young star player like Anthony Davis. However, NBA GMs are now cautious when negotiating when Danny Ainge. We all know the Nets got finessed during that 2013 trade, and if Markelle Fultz can’t get his shot right and play minutes for the 76ers in the upcoming seasons, then they fell victim to Danny too.
Here’s what I want you to expect on draft night, and probably in the offseason. Danny Ainge will stand pat unless there’s a young star available. We should expect these same group of guys next season because we haven’t reached our full potential yet. I think that’s what Danny Ainge will do.
If we lose again or if we can’t reach the finals next season, I think that’s the time we make some changes. For me, this group of guys can represent the East next year and compete with Golden State (if they don’t break up their core) for that trophy.