Boston Celtics: 2 Daniel Theis trades to the Dallas Mavericks

The Boston Celtics are a team that is stuck in a metaphorical quick sand created by complacency.

That may sound overdramatic, but in a city that expects greatness year in and year out from each of their professional sports franchises, it is a sad fact that faces everyone on the Cs roster and in the organization.

The results have not been there in 2020-21, and Danny Ainge’s lack of decisiveness in the 2020 offseason is the primary reason why. While in the process of executing a sign-and-trade for his oft-injured forward, Gordon Hayward, his lack of aggression caused him to miss out on returning any assets besides a $28.5 million traded player exception.

Whether or not he could even turn that into a worthwhile asset is a question with no guaranteed answers. While Ainge has not been afraid to wheel and deal in years past, he has often done it in spurts.

When he signed Hayward in the summer of 2017, he also traded for Kyrie Irving and Marcus Morris, while also signing Aron Baynes and Shane Larkin. After falling to the Milwaukee Bucks in May 2019 during the Eastern Conference semifinals, he overhauled the team and brought in Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter, and Vincent Poirier.

Not since the 2015 trade deadline has Ainge made an impactful mid-season deadline acquisition, and Isaiah Thomas ended up being the franchise-changing guard no one could have ever even optimistically dreamed of.

2021 needs to be the year Ainge rolls the dice again mid-season. While a Kemba Walker trade seems more than likely to go down in the offseason if one happens at all, the Houdini has instead decided to find a trade partner for the next best tradeable asset worth hunting for a return for: Daniel Theis…