It has been an eventful week in Boston, with the Celtics having acquired a four-time All-Star on Tuesday, sending Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Nets’ 2018 first-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Kyrie Irving. The NBA world is still buzzing about that deal, and we have a few more Celtics-related notes on the swap to pass along today:
- The Celtics aren’t in a rush to fill their newly-opened 15th roster spot, but have been in touch with a few free agents this week, including veteran center Andrew Bogut, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.
- Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast this week, Finals MVP Kevin Durant praised Irving for standing up for himself and deciding it was time for him to move on from what seemed like a good situation in Cleveland. “He showed a lot of courage, man, because it’s hard to take that type of criticism,” said Durant (link via ESPN.com), who has some experience in that field himself.
- Durant also suggested during that podcast appearance that Irving and the Celtics will be “perfect” for each other, as DJ Bean of CSNNE.com details. “It’s a perfect fit, because he’s a 6-foot-3 Isaiah Thomas, basically,” Durant said. “And Isaiah just thrived in that system, and then he’s got Gordon Hayward and Al Horford that are going to be able to make plays for him, too. It’s going to be pretty sweet. I think it was a great deal.”
- Revisiting Danny Ainge‘s assertion that the Celtics “have a lot of good players, but need some great ones,” ESPN’s Chris Forsberg makes the case that Ainge’s willingness to roll the dice on Irving signals that the team is making good on that statement and raising the roof on its expectations for 2017/18.
- Young wings Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum may end up being the biggest winners of the Irving blockbuster, according to Benny Nadeau of Basketball Insiders, who notes that the departures of Avery Bradley and Crowder open the door for those youngsters to take on significant roles in Boston.
Bogut would be very intriguing in green. Bogut would be a rim protector and actually could start at the 5 so Horford could stay at the 4 where he excelled last season.
He will just be wearing green from the sideline. The guy can’t stay healthy. He’s a shell of his former self
How many minutes did he play for Cleveland?
If he is healthy, he can still rebound and protect the rim and that is exactly what the Celtics need.
I also like the idea of him in green I’ve said it from the start of free agency he’s the kinda player they need he may get injured a lot but he could be a good part time player and teammate for the young guys
The only thing I don’t like about the Kyrie thing I personally don’t believe players should demand trades because now everyone is going to and it’s going to get ugly especially for poor market teams
As for the trade that unprotected pick was a over pay they should of made it a top 3 protected and if it deal go then it could of been one of the many other picks we have
I disagree about the overpay. Thomas, while valuable, is not as close to valuable as Kyrie because he is older and a soon to be free agent. Considering he’s likely to ask for a max contract, that hurts his value a little since not many people believe that Thomas is actually worth a max contract. Crowder, while a very nice piece, isn’t exactly a headliner. And Zizic is a complete unknown and basically a lottery ticket at this point. The value between Kyrie and Thomas isn’t Crowder and Zizic and a good first round pick actually had to be thrown in. Whether that was going to be Tatum, the Nets pick, or the Lakers/Kings pick, one of those three pieces had to be in the deal. Any other future first rounder that the Celtics hold (their own, the Clippers, and the Grizzlies) are not nearly as valuable as some people make it out to be since all three of those are likely to be picks outside of the lottery.
Right all I was trying to say is the C’s should have protected it and if it didn’t convert then they get the lakers/kings pick if they just wanted to make it a #1 pick protection that would of been fine to
A healthy & serviceable Andrew Bogut could make the Celtics a more formidable & serious threat to both Cleveland & the champs in Oakland (should they meet in The Finals). However, if DWade AND/OR Melo find a hidden path towards Ohio… that will absolutely trump any card on the table!
Kinda hope the celts save that last spot for wade they could use some veteran help. Thoughts anyone?
They want to avoid the luxury tax
Wade’s best buddy in the NBA is Lebron James. Need I say anymore.
Perkins or Bogut who plays more minutes this yr
Perkins didn’t play at all last year so I’m pretty sure his NBA career is over