The Celtics need to add younger, athletic talent. This much they have admitted themselves. One way to do that is to simply make the picks that you have in the 1st and 2nd round of the draft. Recently the Celtics have downplayed the potential impact that any player you could get at number 25 would have on this team's rotation. So is it possible that the Celtics could be making a trade next Thursday?
The CBA is throwing a lot of uncertainty into the already murky waters of the offseason. Will teams look to dump salary at the last minute hoping to get ahead of the curve? If so, would the Celtics be willing to pick up that salary to add a mid-level type of talent? Would they be willing to take a really bad salary in a package with a younger player, banking on the inclusion of an "amnesty clause" that would let them cut that player (still needing to pay him but getting his cap number off the books)? These are some of the high risk, high reward options that present themselves to a risk taking, job secure guy like Danny Ainge.
Obviously if you can get Dwight Howard for pennies on the dollar you jump at the chance. But do you take that risk on someone with a more flawed game like Monta Ellis?
Of course the more likely scenario would be a more low-key deal. Perhaps Ainge will see an opportunity to trade up into a draft where most people aren't very high on the talent level. Maybe he could package the pick with Avery Bradley to get someone with a more established game. Or perhaps he could deal out of the first round entirely, picking up a young player and/or a future draft pick.