NBA Season Preview: 5 best asset collections
By John Buhler
3. Boston Celtics
How are the Boston Celtics not No.1? Doesn’t Boston have like every Brooklyn Nets first-round pick for the next decade? While Boston does have an absurd number of draft picks coming their way in the next few years (nine incoming, three outgoing), the Celtics don’t have the best collection of tradable assets on their roster of players on expiring contracts.
In terms of the 2016-17 NBA salary cap, the Celtics come in just a tad over the cap by $172,574. This is with 19 players on their roster and 16 with guaranteed deals this season. Boston general manager should effortlessly be able to get under the cap before the start of the season.
The Celtics have done a remarkable job of collecting future draft picks. Of their nine picks coming from other teams, four are future first-round picks: a 2017 right to a pick swap with Brooklyn, a 2018 first-round pick from Brooklyn, a 2019 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers, and a 2019 first-round pick from the Memphis Grizzlies.
Boston completely fleecing Brooklyn in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/Jason Terry trade will go down in NBA history as one of the most lopsided deals of all-time. These future picks make the Celtics a top-five of asset allocation team for the next few seasons.
Now for the parts of the equation that actually hurt the Celtics in overall asset collection: tradable players and expiring contracts. Al Horford, Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, and Jaylen Brown’s deals are not easily tradable. This is the core of their team, but they are all under guaranteed contracts through the 2017-18 NBA season.
Boston doesn’t have an intriguing asset this season on an expiring deal: Amir Johnson, Jonas Jerebko, Kelly Olynyk, and Gerald Green don’t move the needle. The Celtics do have four young players they have to figure out if they are getting team options: Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, James Young, and R.J. Hunter. It’s unlikely general manager Danny Ainge keeps all four.
In short, Boston is in a great position to succeed long-term because of the decisions made by their front office. However, it will be difficult for the Celtics to make a trade to improve without having to give up one of their corps players in a deal. Boston can throw as many future picks in to sweeten a deal. That doesn’t mean they have the available trade chips this year to get another team to bite on one of Ainge’s offers.