Although the NBA Finals have been an undoubtedly thrilling spectacle, for those of us without a dog in the fight, the offseason has already begun, and with that, the rumor mill has been rapidly spinning. The Celtics have far and away received the most attention regarding their offseason due in large part to a LaMarcus Aldridge sighting at Boston’s Logan Airport this weekend. While his presence in town remains a mystery, it has garnered the attention of Celtics scoring specialist Isaiah Thomas, who has taken it upon himself to assist Danny Ainge in recruiting duties.
After the news broke on Saturday, Thomas re-tweeted Aldridge’s most recent post, which stated: “Only put people on your team who are willing to work harder than you”. Today, Thomas took to twitter again to post a delightfully cryptic tweet “Boston is nothing but LOVE”.
While attempting to make a decisive interpretation of these mere five words is futile, let’s at least break it down and examine the facts.
LaMarcus Aldridge’s last few months have been turbulent: highlighted by a disappointing postseason saturated with reports questioning Aldridge’s happiness in Portland. Now, entering the offseason, Aldridge has become an unrestricted free agent, who, according to the majority of insiders, will most likely leave Portland. Money was not a deciding factor in Aldridge’s sudden-change-of-heart considering Portland was prepared to offer Aldridge a max-contract, therefore, from an outsider’s perspective, it appears that the reports were not unfounded in suggesting Aldridge had grown unhappy in his last year with the Trailblazers. With this context in mind, Aldridge’s most recent tweet, however vague, comes off as a seemingly-passive-aggressive slight directed towards his (former?) Trailblazers teammates.
While nobody on the Trailblazers is perceived as overtly lazy, fellow All-Star, Damian Lillard had become known around the league as possessing a defensive skill-set comparable to a saloon door. In a Western Conference with 4 of the top 6 point guards in the league, Lillard’s abysmal defense became an increasingly glaring liability for the Blazers, which opposing teams routinely exploited. Perhaps it was this, paired with his overall-unfortunate experience on an unlucky Blazers team (see Brandon Roy and Greg Oden) that ultimately convinced the soon-to-be 30-year-old Power Forward to search for greener pastures.
But what if Isaiah Thomas wasn’t offering a sales pitch to Aldridge when he tweeted earlier tonight, but was less-than-subtly tweeting at Kevin Love? Does he have any insider knowledge of Kevin Love’s situation?
Hey, the Kevin Love sweepstakes may not be over, folks. Love has since forgiven Kelly Olynyk for his (potentially) egregious arm-grab, and for the most part, removed himself from the spotlight during the Cavaliers’ Finals run. I mean, would you want your team to win the NBA Finals, completely devoid of contributions from yourself? This season has been a nightmare for Kevin Love. His stock has dropped considerably as he has experienced a regression in his statistics, in addition to feuding with LeBron James throughout the course of the year (albeit through Twitter). Would he really want to sign on for four more years of this?
While seeing Love struggle to fit in with the Cavaliers probably doesn’t give Ainge any confidence, Love’s off-year deserves a pass considering the Cavaliers’ offense is not conducive to Love’s style of play. He’s a highly-talented offensive juggernaut, who was relegated into a stretch four’s role. With the Celtics, he would be a legitimate number one option, who would give opposing team defenses fits running pick n’ pops with Isaiah Thomas. Signing him would be huge for the Celtics as it’d make it significantly easier to attract future free agents with one All-Star already on the roster.
However, if there is one thing Kevin Love has taught us, besides an ability to hold grudges for people who separated his shoulder, it was to not put too much stock in seeing professional athletes make appearances in Boston. After he was photographed last summer at Fenway Park, Celtics fans talked themselves into believing they were on the verge of title contention once again. However, the stars did not align and the Celtics got the 6th pick in last year’s draft, which was certainly not enough to be the centerpiece in a blockbuster trade with Minnesota.
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No matter what happens this offseason, it’s nice to see how involved Isaiah Thomas is in the recruiting process as it illustrates a genuine connection that Thomas feels for the city, which helps in the recruitment of future free agents. While nobody is safe from Trader Danny, it appears that he is prepared to commit to Thomas to an extent, despite reports from Greg Dickerson saying otherwise. It is also common knowledge among league insiders that Marcus Smart is the most valuable of any Celtic right now, and would be the centerpiece in any trade for top-level talent.
An early read on the situation suggests Danny is feeling a little bit more frisky this offseason and is even showing some impatience with the Celtics development. However, Danny would rather endure another rebuilding season before showing his cards and making a panic-trade.