Celtics forced to sit on sidelines of Davis sweepstakes
No one can mock Danny Ainge for sitting on his hands this time around. The Boston Celtics president doesn't have much of a choice.
As Anthony Davis hits the trade market, the Celtics and their treasure trove of building blocks - young players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Smart, plus as many as four first-round picks in June's draft - are forced to sit on the sidelines while rivals make their bids for the New Orleans Pelicans' transcendent big man.
Because Kyrie Irving still has a few months left on his Derrick Rose Rule contract - the same type of extension Davis signed in New Orleans - and the CBA forbids teams from employing two players on such deals, the only way Ainge's Celtics would be able to land Davis before the Feb. 7 trade deadline is by including Irving in the blockbuster.
That may sound like a bold move worth making for armchair GMs, but it runs counter to everything Ainge has patiently scripted.
The point of turning the aging duo of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett into a boatload of Nets draft picks; the point of continuing to hoard picks even as the team acquired established stars; and the point of practically telling rival executives they'd have to pry his young players from his cold, dead hands wasn't to land a star, or merely swap one for another. It was to put the Celtics in a position to build an Eastern Conference superteam.
Yes, Ainge swapped Isaiah Thomas for Irving - with Thomas coming off an emotional career year - less than two years ago, but that was a drastically different case than an Irving-for-Davis deal would be. Irving is three years younger than Thomas, who was dealing with a hip injury and has only played in 32 games since, and Irving was already a more proven postseason star.
Davis and Irving belong to the same tier of superstars; the group that sits below LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant (and perhaps James Harden), and above the rest. Sure, Davis is a little higher in that second tier than Irving and has an extra year on his contract, but the gap between the two isn't big enough to justify moving Kyrie when he's publicly stated his desire to remain in Boston.
Even if the Celtics were open to dealing Irving, why would New Orleans trade a disgruntled superstar with a year-and-a-half left on his deal (Davis) for another disgruntled superstar on an expiring contract (Irving), who would almost surely be gone come July 1?
Irving for Davis is essentially a non-starter.
Making matters worse for Boston, the team that stands to benefit from the timing of Davis' trade request is the Celtics' oldest rival.
Davis and LeBron share an agent; the Lakers have a collection of young players who should pique New Orleans' interest, especially with Boston's youngsters temporarily off the market; and Los Angeles must have learned its lesson about waiting out the market by now, with Paul George in Oklahoma City and Kawhi Leonard in Toronto.
The Lakers can't afford to wait any longer and might not get a better chance to pair James with an in-his-prime superstar.
Add it all up, and it seems increasingly likely that Ainge and Co. might have to deal with Davis donning purple and gold sooner than later. That would be quite the blow for the Celtics, whose future dynasty looks a lot less certain than the bullet-proof plan everyone envisioned when the season started.
Irving is expected to re-sign, but nothing can be taken for granted. We're talking about a flat-earther here, and his second season in Boston has been far from a honeymoon. The Celtics sit fifth in the East after entering the season as conference favorites, and Irving publicly questioned the team's young players only a couple weeks ago.
Al Horford owns a $30-million player option for next season. Gordon Hayward, who looks like a shell of his former All-Star self, is on the books for nearly $67 million over the next two years. Rozier, a restricted free agent come July, and Brown, have regressed with Irving and Hayward back in the lineup. The three 2019 first-rounders the Celtics are expected to cash in on are currently projected at Nos. 13, 15, and 23. Boston won't have cap space until at least 2021.
A lot of teams would kill to be here, and the Celtics are still dealing from a position of strength, but it's a weaker hand than the one they were playing only a few months ago.
Ainge's shrewd asset management and patience gave Boston a head start, even as his overvaluation of the team's young players and his reluctance to go all-in drew the ire of pundits. Now, as other teams attempt to catch up, Ainge and the Celtics suddenly find themselves unable to do anything about it.