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Despite the breathless reports from earlier this week that insinuated that a big trade could be happening at any moment, we haven’t gotten any word of a deal actually happening ...yet.
Everyone seems to agree on just one important point: The Celtics are aggressively looking to get something done. I’m sure a lot of that talk was spurred by the crowds gathered at the Vegas Summer League. GMs, coaches, team execs, agents, and media members were all milling about, shooting the breeze and comparing notes. Thus a lot of trade chatter (both real and imagined) happened.
By now we all know the names by heart. Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, Jimmy Butler, Jahlil Okafor, and even a little Kevin Love and DeMarcus Cousins tossed in for good measure. Will any of them be coming to Boston this summer? I tend to think one of them will shake loose, sure. Will anything happen this weekend? That’s less likely if only because trades are hard and negotiations can take many twists and turns, in particular in the case of superstar level talents like these.
In his most recent column, Steve Bulpett outlines many hurdles teams have to overcome to complete blockbuster trades of this magnitude. Obviously the value on the court has to match up, but there are lots of reasons that transcend "basketball reasons."
Everything from selling it to the fanbase to maintaining future assets to getting ownership buy-off. In the case of Blake Griffin, it sounds like there’s a real concern about the health of his leg too.
Sometimes the best path is to remain patient too. Summer league likely allowed some GMs to get some real facetime negotiations done, but now they can go back home, weigh their options, talk with their staff at length about it, and figure out what makes sense for everyone.
It is also important to remember our position. There’s no need to rush into anything. This team has already added an All Star two-way center to a team that won 48 games last year. We’ve still got two shots at the top of the lottery with the Nets picks. We’ve got a solid core and a bright future.
It could just get a lot brighter for the immediate future if Ainge can pull off a trade for a major star without sacrificing too much in terms of long term assets. So we wait and see what happens next.