For three years now, the Boston Celtics have been going about their rebuild like Andy Dufresne chipping away at that wall. Slowly. Carefully. A little progress here and there, patiently resisting what has to be an ever-growing urge to speed up the process.
Tuesday night, they got a lot closer to breaking through that wall.
On the eve of facing the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics won the lottery on Tuesday (well, the Nets actually won, but the Celtics get their pick as part of the Garnett/Pierce deal in 2013), and thus secured the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. The lottery results setting the order for the first 14 picks are as follows:
- Boston Celtics
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
- Orlando Magic
- Minnesota Timberwolves
- New York Knicks
- Dallas Mavericks
- Sacramento Kings (via New Orleans)
- Charlotte Hornets
- Detroit Pistons
- Denver Nuggets
- Miami Heat
Quite a 48-hour run for Boston, which eliminated the Wizards in Game 7 on Monday. It's exactly how the Celtics planned it, of course, when they stood pat at February's trade deadline rather than move this pick and/or one of their many assets for a big-name player (there was talk of Jimmy Butler or Carmelo Anthony). It was a real risk. If this pick wouldn't have turned out to be No. 1, they would've lost much of that leverage. Now they have even more. Still, the million-dollar question hasn't changed: What does Boston do?
At the top of just about everyone's board is Markelle Fultz, a big, strong combo guard who would give the Celtics something they're sorely missing -- a second legitimate scorer on the perimeter next to Isaiah Thomas. Even better, he scores efficiently from all levels, at the rim, from mid-range and 3-point. He can defend, too, making it easier to imagine him next to Thomas without creating a defensive crater. Frankly, if the Celtics do keep the pick and take anyone other than Fultz, it would be a surprise (though our Reid Forgrave has Jayson Tatum going to Boston in his mock draft!).
The other choice, of course, is to move the pick. They'll have to make the decision whether to do this prior to the opening of the free agency period, but can you imagine if they do keep the pick, take Fultz, renounce their free agents and clear more salary in order to land, say, Gordon Hayward this summer? Suddenly this slow, methodical plan to which Ainge has remained committed in the face of growing skepticism will look pretty damn brilliant. At that point, with Fultz and Hayward on board and probably more than capable of composing an All-Star level backcourt, everything would be on the table, even moving Thomas, who would bring back a serious haul of replenishing assets.
This would be an almost unheard-of scenario -- a conference finals team, at worst, getting the No. 1 pick and a borderline superstar free agent in the same summer. But it's starting to get a lot easier to imagine. The Celtics' entire approach to this rebuild -- if you want to call it that -- has been to keep their options open. And man, do they have options. A package to bring back Paul George, if he's not set on the Lakers (and would commit to a deal), could very reasonably be in play. In the case of Hayward coming to Boston, you could play him at the 3 with Thomas and Fultz and suddenly have A LOT of scoring. Again, it all sounds pretty blue-sky, and hinges heavily on Hayward or another free agent choosing Boston, or the Celtics getting creative with a few of their many attractive, peripheral parts, but oh the possibilities.
However it turns out, Ainge's patience has already been validated by making the conference finals and getting this pick. If only for the optics, that win over the Wizards Monday night was huge. Imagine, now, a scenario in which the Celtics lose that game, prove they are not much more than a bunch of pretty good players masquerading as an elite team, and then don't get the No. 1 pick either. How easily this all could've shifted.
Instead, the balls have really bounced Boston's way these last 48 hours. And they deserve it. Yes, the Nets let them get away with a train heist when they gave them everything but the deed to their arena for an aging Garnett and Pierce, but the Celtics still had to be willing to do that deal. Not so much KG, who wasn't homegrown, but parting with a franchise legend like Pierce was not a no-brainer. It's fair to wonder where the Lakers would be right now had they done the same thing with Kobe Bryant.
The Celtics had a plan, they executed it, and man is it starting to pay off.
