Like most recent years, during last week’s trade deadline a significant amount of buzz found itself revolving around the Boston Celtics.
With their copious amounts of holes within the rotation, coupled with their sub-.500 record despite having serious championship aspirations, analysts and fans alike concluded that the team desperately needed to make some moves to get their rapidly sinking season back on track — this mindset famously was shared by General Manager Danny Ainge, as well.
Perhaps two of the most popular names linked to the franchise leading up to the 3 PM (ET) cutoff on March 25th were both of the starting big men for the Orlando Magic in Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic.
Now, a few days removed from the deadline we find both of these aforementioned ballers out of the sunshine state, with the former having been dealt to the Denver Nuggets and the latter being shipped to the Chicago Bulls.
Ultimately, the shamrocks did live up to some expectations by striking a deal with Orlando, but only managed to snag veteran marksman Evan Fournier in return.
Don’t get us wrong, bringing on a guy who’s currently averaging close to 20 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 39 percent shooting from deep is a nice addition for this offensively troubled Cs rotation, especially considering they only gave up two future second-round picks in the process.
However, when thinking about the package that eventually brought the French sniper to Beantown, the Houdini cannot help but think about what the offers made for the other two more highly sought-after Magic assets were.
The Boston Globe gives some insight into what the Boston Celtics offered for Orlando’s big men
Though nothing has been officially released from either party about what Ainge and co. proposed in a deal for Aaron Gordon or Nikola Vucevic, thanks to his sources around the league Boston Globe (subscription required) writer Adam Himmelsbach was recently able to share some insight into the moldings of what a trade could have looked like between the Magic and Boston Celtics:
"According to league sources, in addition to their well-documented courtship of Aaron Gordon, the Celtics were a finalist for Magic All-Star center Nikola Vucevic, including multiple first-round picks as part of their offer. Orlando ultimately sent Vucevic to the Bulls in exchange for Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and two first-round picks.The Celtics also offered a first-round pick and a young player to Orlando for Gordon, sources said, and they were prepared to add to that haul, but the Magic accepted Denver’s offer, which included Gary Harris Jr., R.J. Hampton, and a first-round pick, before Boston had a chance."
Himmelsbach would then go on to say that though the Boston Celtics may have missed out on these two stud big men, the front office will still have an opportunity to bolster their talent in the middle through the buyout market, where there are several players that could be considered.
In the end, while many of us may have left the deadline feeling disappointed and confused, now with this information provided at least we’re able to get a bit more clarity about what transpired behind the scenes, as well as getting the opportunity to wander off into an alternate reality and think about what could have been.
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