Reaction to the Boston Celtics Trading the #1 Overall Draft Pick

The first major move of the 2017 NBA Draft/offseason features the reigning #1 seed in the Eastern Conference and the future #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.  The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers worked out a trade where the C’s send the Sixers the 1st overall pick in the 2017 Draft (aka Markelle Fultz) in exchange for the 3rd overall pick in the 2017 Draft and either a first rounder in the 2018 Draft of the 2019 Draft, depending on how well the Lakers play next season.  Both Boston and Philadelphia fans claim they robbed the other with this recent trade, but I personally think only one of them truly benefitted from the first major trade of the 2017 offseason.

To get straight to the point, I don’t think the Celtics got nearly enough for Fultz.  It is widely accepted that this year’s draft class is one of the greatest in modern NBA history, and with Fultz emerging as the greatest player in the greatest draft class, wouldn’t it make sense that the Washington Point Guard is worth more than 2 first round picks?  While there will still be plenty of future superstars available after Philadelphia selects Fultz, and Los Angeles selects either Josh Jackson or Lonzo Ball, the Celtics still should’ve demanded more from the 76ers in order to justify passing up on drafting the greatest prospect in recent memory.  Obviously the Celtics have bigger holes to fill first before they start drafting more Guards, but after seeing IT and Fultz bond through their journeys to the league and their matching alma maters, and due to the fact that Isaiah Thomas’s time left in Boston maybe fairly short despite his career best season in 2016-17, wouldn’t it make sense to draft his best fit replacement in this year’s draft?

Personally, I’m starting to get irritated with how Danny Ainge is handling Boston’s assets.  After making the monumental trade with the Nets to acquire the plethora of first rounders in future drafts, the rebuilding process seemed pretty simple for the C’s: use the valuable picks to draft top ranked future talent while adding some key veterans and free agents where needed to assemble the next Celtics championship roster.  However, Danny has generated trade rumor after trade rumor (Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler (multiple times), Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, etc.) without ever actually acquiring the much needed veteran talent.  With the exception of adding Al Horford, Ainge has either backed out or failed to close on much needed deals year after year, especially with deals involving trading the Brooklyn picks.  Now, after getting lucky enough to finish the season as the best team in the Eastern Conference AND securing the #1 overall pick in the Draft, Ainge finally followed through on a trade rumor with what is possibly one of the most disappointing deals he’s made in the last few seasons.  

Multiple sources across the league have said that because the 76ers/Celtics deal was completed so early, more moves involving the #3 pick are predicted to happen.  According to these same sources, Boston is heavily pursuing Paul George (although the Celtics would actually just be renting him for a single season), Jimmy Butler, and now Kristaps Porzingis.  Let’s not forget, it wouldn’t be a Celtics trade rumor if it wasn’t very likely to fall through.  Currently, the Lakers, who George has verbally said he wants to play for after next season, have reached out to Indiana along with Cleveland.  The Cavs have also been pursuing Butler, and only moments after Phil Jackson announced he’s open to trading Porzingis himself, the Knicks sent a hard to pass on offer to Phoenix that is sure to out bid Boston, if they can even make a sane offer to New York.  If Ainge traded for the #3 pick for the sole purpose of bringing in one of these 3 players, then it looks like Danny let the organization down once again with poor decision making.  

So with trade rumors not leaning towards Boston, it appears that Ainge will be keeping the #3 overall pick for the second Draft in a row.  Last year, the Celtics picked up Jaylen Brown out of Cal, and the results have been promising to say the least, but this year’s draft class is completely different from last’s.  Philadelphia is guaranteed to pick Fultz, but Los Angeles may not be going with Lonzo Ball anymore.  Especially with talks with Indiana increasing to land PG13 early, LA may be drafting differently than originally expected, being if they even still own the #2 pick come Thursday.  Boston is rumored to take either Josh Jackson out of Kansas or Jayson Tatum out of Duke.  Personally, I don’t believe the hype behind Tatum, but with Jackson not even working out for Boston, and Los Angeles still on the fence with their pick, the Celtics will most likely, and unfortunately, choose Tatum.

If I was Ainge, I would do everything I can to try to steal Kristaps from a careless Phil Jackson.  The fact that Porzingis is currently on the trading block is mind-boggling to me, and capitalizing on this mistake by the Knicks before it’s too late is crucial.  If a deal can’t be made, then Ainge should absolutely draft Josh Jackson (if available by pick #3), De’Aaron Fox, or Malik Monk.  The C’s should draft Jackson as their desperate need for a dominant Small Forward perfectly matches Jackson’s skill set, but if he is taken before Boston is on the clock, either Fox or Monk out of Kentucky would fit equally as well.  Obviously another Point Guard would be redundant for Boston, but year after year Kentucky continues to produce some of the best players in the league, who become either superstars, the centerpieces of their respective teams, or both.  Since 2010, Kentucky basketball has produced superstars and promising new comers with the likes of Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Nerlens Noel, Karl-Anthony Towns, and John Wall.  With such an impressive track record in such a short amount of time, it appears to be obvious that De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk are 100% guaranteed to be phenomenal players who will outshine the likes of Terry Rozier and Avery Bradley.  But knowing Ainge, my reasoning will fall on deaf ears and Celtics fans will have to watch a disappointing C’s team struggle with Jayson Tatum in the 2018 playoffs as the Lakers, Suns, and 76ers make significant progress towards their very successful near futures.  

As a massive Celtics fan who’s had to watch literally every other organization in the league besides Boston prosper during this time of the year, it’s finally time to say enough is enough Danny.  The Celtics are literally 1 or maybe 2 key pieces away from reaching our first NBA Finals since 2010, yet we’re throwing away these key pieces for more assets.  Fultz, Jackson, Fox, or Monk could all be the answer to our last needed role player, but I doubt any of them will get a chance to bring banner 18 to Boston.  The C’s have been pursuing Gordon Hayward aggressively this offseason, but now reports are surfacing that the Utah star is favoring Miami over Boston.  Ainge’s obsession with Butler and George will do nothing but increase how much Los Angeles and Cleveland pay for them, and any other notable trades brought up between now and the start of the 2017-18 season will be nothing more than rumors.  So my question to Danny is, why stockpile all of these first round picks and assets to use to rebuild only to trade them away for more future picks?  What’s the point to trading for multiple first rounders in 2014 to rebuild, and then finally getting to 3 wins and 1 prominent player away from reaching the NBA Finals in 2017, only to trade the #1 overall pick a month later for more picks instead of choosing the future superstar of the league with the #1 pick, even though the Celtics are no longer rebuilding and the veterans desired to acquire simply aren’t realistic acquisitions.  Ainge’s odd desire to obtain as many draft picks as he can is simply troubling and alarming at this point and it will probably be the reason why Boston yet again fails to reach the NBA Finals.  At least the 76ers will be exciting to watch this year.  

Written by Erik Clark, @_erikclark