Boston Celtics: B/R lists Hayward & Tatum as winners, Cs as losers
By Mark Nilon
In Bleacher Report’s latest piece, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward are seen as winners of the offseason while the Boston Celtics are not viewed as kindly.
Coming into the 2020 NBA offseason, many expected the Boston Celtics to be one of the busiest franchises in the league.
With their three first-round draft picks, reported attractiveness for free agents willing to sign for the mid-level exception and veteran minimum contracts, and the potential of a massive sign-and-trade involving Gordon Hayward, it was hard not to be excited if you were a C’s fan.
However, a bit under two months since the official start of the offseason we find that, while the shamrocks have found themselves oft intertwined within the league’s news cycle, things have not necessarily panned out the way the fanbase had hoped.
Starting with the draft, where many hoped the organization would land the answer at the center position but, instead, went for wings and backcourt depth, and then bleeding into Hayward’s decision to opt-out of the final year of his contract, only to sign with the Charlotte Hornets for a king’s ransom — more on that later — , leaving Boston with nothing to show for his tenure (at least, at the moment) some could certainly describe this between-season period as predominantly underwhelming.
In fact, Bleacher Report would go as far as to say that the franchise has proven to be one of the biggest “losers” of the 2020 offseason, with writer Dan Favale stating the repercussions of Hayward’s exit, not exit itself, as the biggest reason for their placement within this category.
"Hayward’s exit is only part of the calculus because it sounds like the Celtics passed on—or didn’t seriously enough consider—sign-and-trade scenarios with the Indiana Pacers. As Zach Lowe entertained on The Lowe Post, the Celtics might’ve balked at deals with Myles Turner as the centerpiece. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported that they wanted T.J. Warren or Victor Oladipo tacked on to the package.That is…certainly a decision if it’s true. Turner is a utopian complement to Boston’s core: a shifty rim protector and low-usage floor spacer. He wouldn’t provide the strength necessary to topple Adebayo or Embiid regularly, but so few do.Considering what could have been hurts the Celtics only so much. The exact parameters of sign-and-trade talks can’t be known for sure. Leaks are always agenda-driven. And who knows whether Hayward would’ve been on board when the Hornets were peddling so much more money? But Boston did little to settle the unease with its other moves."
Favale would later point to the decision from the Boston Celtics to shell out the entirety of the MLE on Tristan Thompson and the replacement of Brad Wanamaker with Jeff Teague — though the Houdini actually does love this signing — as two other “low points” for the team.
Subsequently, however, the article went on to deem both Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum as winners from the offseason, pointing out the large paydays each of these talents received ($120 million & $195 million).
It’s reletively unfortunate, as obviously we hope for nothing but bright spots from the Celtics franchise, but labeling them as losers this offseason is quite fitting in our eyes… at least, at the moment.