Creating the Boston Celtics’ Super Team

Now that the “Trust The Process” celebratory riots have died down and Boston fans have crawled out from under their desks to take a break from weeping, it’s time to digest what just happened. The Celtics have officially passed on the chance of picking Markelle Fultz — who is widely considered to be a potential superstar — for more draft picks.

In a strange way, this pushes Boston’s young core rebuild back even further, and puts them in a position to build a superstar-filled roster now.

Even though Fultz is viewed as a franchise-changing talent, GM Danny Ainge has made it clear that he’d rather have a proven player than a prospect who may or may not turn into a cornerstone. Like he did when he turned picks and youth into KG and Ray Allen, Ainge likes the idea of building a championship with current superstars rather than going with the Warriors’ route of building through the draft.

Trading the position to draft Fultz does help the Celtics in that regard. Not only do they receive more picks which they can (hopefully) swap for a star, it also gives them more cap room and roster flexibility. The third pick in the draft makes $1.38 million less than the top slot, allowing Boston more wiggle room to keep a player like Avery Bradley or Marcus Smart while still creating room for a big name free agent this summer.

They still have to do some adjusting to the rest of their roster, but Boston can essentially reel in a big fish while keeping their core roster together.

The team that just won 50+ games now has an opportunity to add an All-Star in free agency, while giving up essentially nothing. Opting to not re-sign Kelly Olynyk, Gerald Green, Jonas Jerebko, Amir Johnson, and James Young while moving on from Terry Rozier, Tyler Zeller, and Jordan Mickey doesn’t hurt Boston at all. Most of those players were impact role players, and are certainly replaceable. People aren’t really going to be sitting in TD Garden daydreaming about Kelly Olynyk’s scraggly facial hair when the Celtics are running teams off the court.

Boston was expected to at least attempt to add a player like Gordon Hayward or Blake Griffin this summer, but this move shows there’s something bigger on Ainge’s mind. Everyone continues to think other teams should just essentially stop playing basketball for the next few years while the Warriors and Cavs take turns beating each other up for the next half decade, but Boston is now set to create their next super team. Instead of adding one star, Ainge is clearly gunning for two.

This all starts with Hayward heading to Boston. It’s still not a guarantee, but the Celtics adding two stars pretty much revolves around Hayward’s reunion with his old college coach Brad Stevens. If he does, the Celtics are in a position to trade for another star to join him. They could offer Avery Bradley, Jay Crowder, and another contract like Zeller before they waive him as well as the team’s choice of picks for Griffin, Paul George, or Jimmy Butler.

It gets a little bit dicier there when it comes to actually swinging a deal. In order to land Griffin and Hayward, Boston would have to hope the big man doesn’t opt out of his contract with the Clippers this summer. They’ll then be able to package the players above for Griffin and can work out an extension with him while retaining his Bird rights.

Griffin deciding to agree to an extension before the trade is a big “what if” when it comes to dealing for him, as it would be with George. George has already told the Pacers he’s done in Indy, with his eyes looking at Hollywood.

You may want to view this as George just gearing to get out of there, but you could actually spin his announcement into good news for Boston. Now that he officially said he’s leaving Indiana the first chance he gets, the Pacers are hopefully ending their charade of keeping him off the trading block. Since there’s no shot he returns, he’s never been cheaper to get.

Still, the very last thing you want to do is mortgage your future for a rental who’s in love with LA.

That’s why the best option would be Jimmy Butler. He’s under contract for the next two seasons, with a player option for 2019–2020. That’s two years of a superstar to go alongside Hayward. Even if Hayward does stay in Utah or head to South Beach, the Celtics can hopefully sign Griffin and add George or Butler with a trade.

Everybody sits around and complains about how predictable and top-heavy the league is because of the super teams in Golden State and Cleveland, yet they also claim every other team should just wait for the future until these teams are done. You can’t have it both ways. In this situation, Boston would be able to bring in four superstars to at least challenge the Cavs, and possibly the Warriors in the NBA Finals.

Even if Ainge takes the advice of every expert and doesn’t load up on superstars to change the outlook of the NBA now, the super team possibility in the distance isn’t out of the question. The future for Boston took a hit with losing Fultz, but it’s truly not the awful situation it’s being made out to be. The Celtics have loved Jayson Tatum, Josh Jackson, and Lonzo Ball just as much as Fultz throughout this entire process. They never viewed it as the one-man draft it’s turned into.

If the worst happens and Boston lands zero superstars, the future is still pretty damn bright. They have Jaylen Brown, whoever they select with the third pick in this year’s draft, the Nets’ unprotected first rounder next year, and then another potential top lottery pick with the Lakers’ 2018 first rounder or the Kings’ 2019 first rounder. Add that with oversea gems like Ante Zizic and Guerschon Yabusele, and that’s still a loaded young roster.

It may not be the most attractive direction, but Ainge just paved multiple roads towards the gleaming attraction of a super team. Now, we’ll just have to wait and see that super team form this summer, at the trade deadline, or somewhere down the road.