Boston Celtics need quick and quiet free agency
The Boston Celtics are best off with a quick and quiet free agency
The past couple seasons, The Boston Celtics have been one of the most prominent and exciting teams in free agency. They have made major moves and brought in top targets.
This year, it should be the complete opposite. They have already made two moves with Brad Wanamaker and the expectation with Aron Baynes. The Celtics are finally establishing continuity, and the quicker they wrap up Marcus Smart, the better off they will be.
Smart may take his time testing the market, but the Celtics have an opportunity to use a full offseason with the same team in tact. They will look completely different from last season, and want to allow them to get as much time before the season to figure things out.
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Smart really is the only major decision left to be made. Keeping him means everything stay stays in tact, and letting him walk still does not leave them with many options. Smart is the only really significant player left for them to add this offseason. If they are not going to pay him, they are better off saving the money for the young players they will have to pay in the future.
The Celtics already have an incredibly cluttered bench, and they do not have enough minutes even for the players already on the team. The Celtics have given themselves options with their depth, and the best they can expect in free agency with the money they have to spend is a sideways move.
Smart is the only free agent they can expect to have a great impact on this team, so the decision with him is really the only one they have to make.
It is great to have exciting free agency periods, but the Celtics are beyond that. They are no longer interested in overturning this team, while looking to improve their core. The Celtics are finally at a point where they believe in their core’s ability to truly compete for a championship, and a long and complicated free agency can only hurt them.
With how quickly the Celtics have already made some minor moves, there’s no reason to believe that they will be making a lot of moves in free agency. They want to wrap this up and get things going so they can start to really see what this core is going to be able to do this season.
The Celtics will always be connected to rumors, and people will never full rule out all trade options. Danny Ainge will always be looking for any kind of value, but it is going to be incredibly hard to find value that is better than what they already have. And, this core has the trust, whereas any outside piece will always be more uncertain.
Next: Marcus Smart a priorit in free agency
It feels like everyone wants Smart to be back in Boston, and the best thing would be to have Smart signed as quickly as possible, hopefully without costing so much that he threatens potential future deals for young players.