Boston Celtics target No. 1) Deandre Ayton
Perhaps the biggest player — both literally and figuratively — still under his rookie scale contract that is reportedly on the outs with his franchise, Deandre Ayton makes his way into the limelight for Boston Celtics fans as it was reported earlier this week that he and the decision-makers for the Phoenix Suns failed to come to an agreement on a contract extension this offseason.
Because of this, the big man is slated to become a restricted free agent come the summer of 2022, allowing him to look for a lucrative offer sheet elsewhere and, with the rumblings suggesting that he’s ‘very unhappy’ with how talks ultimately played out, Phoenix may be running the risk of being out-bid and, with this, potentially wind up losing him for nothing.
Because of this, many believe that should the two parties not mend their relationship as the season continues on, General Manager James Jones could be forced to shop the former No. 1 overall pick.
If this were to actually happen — which, obviously we’re not saying it definitely will, hence why we’re suggesting his status should simply be monitored –, we at HH are under the belief that the Boston Celtics should strongly consider pursuing a trade for him.
Coming off a solid 2020-21 campaign that ultimately ended in an NBA Finals run, DeAndre Ayton saw himself posting impressive averages of 14.4 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game on a highly efficient 63 percent shooting from the floor.
He then would only go on to improve these numbers under the bright lights of the postseason, averaging 15.8 points, 11.8 rebounds, and a block per game on an NBA record 66 percent shooting from the field.
Since this news broke we’ve gone about and discussed a few reasons for why the addition of Ayton could ultimately help the Boston Celtics in the long run, and even concocted a trade package that we believe could wind up being mutually beneficial for both parties.
Ultimately, it came down to this — with how their team is currently constructed, the Cs have the ability to be a very good team, however, with Ayton attached to this core, they could easily wind up being true contenders.