There has been examples in the past of Danny Ainge ruthlessly trading players off of the Boston Celtics – sentimentality be damned. Is it affecting the team’s ability to reel in big name free agents?
If you think about the makeup of all the great Boston Celtics of recent memory, there is a trend. The headliners of those teams have come mostly in the form of a trade.
The 2008 Boston Celtics that won the NBA championship jumped from 24 wins the previous year to 66 and a title because of the trades that brought Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to join the likes of homegrown talents like Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo. The 2016-17 team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals were buoyed by Isaiah Thomas (traded from Phoenix in 2015), Jae Crowder (traded for Rajon Rondo in 2014) and Avery Bradley (drafted in 2010).
Al Horford was the only impact free agent to sign on the dotted line with Ainge and the Celtics. Now he is slated to leave the team after a supposed “gulf” in contract negotiations.
The Boston Celtics have a free agent problem. Besides Gordon Hayward, who was a one-time All-Star the year prior to free agency, and Horford, the Celtics haven’t signed a top-tier free agent since Ainge has taken over aa general manager.
Given his track record, it’s not hard to see why. Thursday was just the latest example of Ainge do the opposite of reward loyalty. Aaron Baynes, a popular locker-room guy and fan favorite, had recently opted into his one year deal to remain with the Celtics next season.
Owed just over $5 million, Baynes was taking a pay-cut and doing the Celtics a favor. With the recent injuries to Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant as relevant examples, there is no guarantee a player will always be in the same position to make a lot of money.
Baynes gave up the chance to secure a multi-year deal to remain with a team that he seemingly belonged on. That’s not what Ainge thought though. Baynes was traded to the Phoenix Suns on draft night.
The Suns are arguably the worst basketball situation in the NBA. They won 40 games the past two seasons and didn’t operate with an NBA-level point guard most of last season. With DeAndre Ayton locked in as the team’s starting center for years to come, Baynes will not have a great chance to earn a lucrative deal next summer.
Baynes is just another example in a long line of underhanded moves. No greater example exists than Thomas’ sacrifice in the 2017 playoffs playing with an injured hip (which has turned out to be a career-altering injury) turning into a deal to Cleveland for a new franchise point guard.
The Horford “gulf” may be best for his career, because if he signed an extension, odds are he’d be a piece of a deal for a bigger fish anyway.
Ainge has done well with all of the draft picks he has acquired. Romeo Langford, Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards were all great picks last night and should provide value in the rotation next year. Tatum and Brown are set to be franchise cornerstones for years.
His free agent track record is spotty though. Given the way he sees every player as expendable, it’s not surprising. The Boston Celtics may have over $30 million in spending money this coming offseason, but no player who knows his worth should consider signing up to play for a guy that sees you as an asset and not a human being.