The Boston Celtics have a wealth of assets at their disposal, cap space, draft picks and young, talented players, so they’re expected to pool those assets together to acquire a star. This is of course easier said than done, because most teams, once they have a star, are understandably reluctant to part with them. That won’t dissuade Danny Ainge from trying, and it appears he already has his sights set on DeMarcus Cousins, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein.
The good news for Boston: Ainge and his staffers are creative and aggressive and understand all of those dynamics as well as anyone else. And that’s why the Celtics realize their next major talent infusion is perhaps even more likely to come via trade rather than free-agent signings.
Will they open their war chest of future draft picks to try to pry DeMarcus Cousins away from Sacramento via trade? The early word out there is: Bank on it.
At first, this may appear as nothing more than a pipe dream for Boston. And it very well could be. But consider these factors: First, Boogie hasn’t exactly been happy with Sacramento’s ownership/direction/anything since, well, basically the day he arrived. Some of that is on him, but it’s nearly equally on the ever-changing, unstable conditions caused by the Kings themselves. Second, though one may think George Karl and Boogie could work wonders together, Karl himself is on the record as saying that no player is untradeable (this was more of a reflection on Karl’s career experiences, but it is nonetheless applicable). Then there’s the fact that Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé isn’t shy about making drastic changes, and no change would be more drastic than trading away your franchise star.
Boogie would be excellent in Boston, and not just because of Brad Stevens. He’d finally be in an environment that’s stable from the top down, with little-to-no outside turmoil entering the locker room. Even though the East will be better next year, Cousins would still stand a better chance of making the playoffs — something he has yet to experience after completing his fifth NBA season this past April — with the Celtics than the current iteration of the Kings .
If Sacramento believe Cousins’ relationship with Karl won’t evolve into what they hope, they could decide to part ways with Boogie and build once more from the ground up through Karl’s vision. And if that happens, the Celtics will be waiting with open arms.
(ESPN)
