The #1 goal remaining for new Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge this offseason–after trading away Kemba Walker’s albatross deal and hitting a home run with the hiring of new HC Ime Udoka–is to find a new starting point guard.
If you look at the current landscape of the league, it is clear that point guard play is what wins in 2021. The Phoenix Suns went from the #9 seed to the Western Conference champions after acquiring Chris Paul. Last year’s second-round also-ran Milwaukee Bucks upgraded Eric Bledsoe to Jrue Holiday and are now Eastern Conference champions even without Giannis Antetokounmpo for the final two games of the ECF.
Elsewhere, the Atlanta Hawks don’t make the east’s final round without a superstar effort from Trae Young. Ditto for the Los Angeles Clippers if they don’t get the 2016 version of Reggie Jackson resurrected in the 2021 postseason.
The Cs need to once again possess potent point guard play to be back in the NBA Finals mix themselves. It was clear in the early stages of the 2020-21 season that Kemba Walker was no longer the player he used to be even in his first season with Boston due to knee soreness that has ultimately turned his max deal into an extremely undesirable one.
This offseason will provide the best opportunity to do so. While dreams of landing Damian Lillard were once prevalent around these parts, such thoughts are mere fantasy after Stevens gave up the C’s 2021 first-round draft pick.
A more modest target could be acquired without giving up Jaylen Brown, but the Cs could still land a high-end floor general using a Marcus Smart-Robert Williams trade package instead.
Let’s take a look at a few potential returns for the defensive-minded duo: