Boston Celtics draft day regret No. 3) Not looking to deal for an established player
Coming into draft night, the hot story was that the Boston Celtics were looking to make moves.
Though the majority of the buzz was that they were looking to move up in the draft, we here at the site were huge advocates for the franchise to move some of their capital to acquire an already established player and, on numerous occasions, discussed players they could target.
Unfortunately, as has been the case for over the last several seasons in which the Celtics held multiple first-round picks, the team ultimately ended up keeping them (for the most part, at least).
Now, with a record of 12-11 and staring at an uphill battle to catch up with their title-contending competitors out in the Eastern Conference, they are stuck trying to figure out ways in which they can make improvements to their roster to better their chances at competing come the postseason.
One of the hottest reports is that Boston is “up to something”, with a recent quote from Ainge insisting that the team is looking to add “shooters with size” prior to the March 25th NBA trade deadline.
Players such as Myles Turner and Lauri Markkanen — two players who fit this desired mold — were both reportedly being shopped at around the time of the draft, and it appeared the Celtics made no serious inquiries on either of them at that point in time.
At the very least, they should have been more active in trade talks than they inevitably were for, maybe had they landed an already established player by dealing one or two of their picks, they could have better addressed an area of need on the roster (*cough, center, *cough) and not be in the just over .500 situation that they currently find themselves in.