Boston Celtics rumors: Celtics ‘could have made a lot of deals by now’
After trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets, the Boston Celtics knew it would be a long year. They finished with a record of 25-57, the fifth-worst mark in the league.
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Armed with several future draft picks and young talent, including the sixth and 17th overall selections in last month’s draft, many expected the Celtics to make a play for a star. Although they did target Minnesota Timberwolves’ power forward Kevin Love, the Timberwolves have rebuffed their offers and the Celtics wound up using those picks on former Oklahoma State Cowboys’ point guard Marcus Smart and former Kentucky Wildcats’ swingman James Young.
The Celtics “could have made a lot of deals by now,” according to Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald.
"And the Celtics, through no fault or lack of effort of their own, are strictly a secondary player at the table — Paul Pierce at the World Series of Poker, if you will.His general public may be waiting for more, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been wading through a field of bad possibilities for his assets stack. Better to wait. Love is no less a long shot than any other quality possibility at the moment.“Danny has been very disciplined,” Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca said. “He could have made a lot of deals by now, but not for the kind of player we want.”"
If this Celtics do make a bold move, it will likely be to trade point guard Rajon Rondo or find a star to pair with him. Rondo was limited just 30 games while returning from his ACL injury and averaged 11.7 points, 9.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 40.3% from the field, 28.9% from beyond the arc and 62.7% from the free throw line.
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