Well, that was interesting. Now what? Certainly the team is going to move forward with contingency plans, but before we move on, I thought I’d look at some of the immediate aftermath of the trade that never was.
I believe this is what the kids these days call “cope.” Basically it means rationalizing to make yourself feel better about something that didn’t go your way. Some situations absolutely call for that approach, so let’s get into it.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo is a big risk – specifically with injures, but also with his personality, style of play, and the upcoming contract extension that he was sure to get. If this deal had gone through, everything would revolve around him for the next several years (including his eventual decline).
- Jaylen Brown is still a Boston Celtic (at least for now) – He’s a franchise icon, Finals MVP, and just coming off his best season ever. If anything, this latest set of events should have him even more motivated to prove his worth to the world. (I’m not sure how thrilled he’s going to be after all this though. We have no way of knowing just how much communication has been going on behind the scenes with him and the Celtics. He’s a pro though, and understands that this is part of the job.)
- Hugo Gonzalez is still a Boston Celtic. I worry a little bit that he will be perceived as the “deal breaker” that the Celtics wouldn’t give up. Sometimes that hangs on a player for years to come. But the team values Hugo for good reason. He has special tools and upside that we will get to see develop for years to come.
- The cost on top of Jaylen was prohibitive. From the start I thought that Brown alone would be enough to trump the Miami offer. Clearly I was wrong. Over the last week or so I talked myself into including a pick or maybe two. The Bucks insisting on including Hugo and even more picks or players was just too high of a price.
- Those draft picks could be critical to building out a roster around some very expensive veterans. This new era of 2nd aprons requires teams to invest in developing cheap talent, and productive guys on rookie scale contracts is just the thing.
- The Heat will be formidable now, but they also have some of the same issues that the Bucks had. Just how far can Giannis, Bam, and their supporting cast get them? We’ll see if they have any more moves in them, but they are completely out of picks and that’s their core now.
- At least we’ll never have to hear about “the Miami Heat trade package” ever again.
- Back to the Celtics, as I alluded to in a prior column, we still have Brad Stevens, and I’m pretty sure he has a Plan B ready. Or rather, a spreadsheet of alternative options he’s going to systematically assess and act upon. Draft night could and should be very interesting now that the bottleneck of Giannis has been cleared up.
- And of course we have to go back to the ultimate consolation. This core group already has an NBA Championship. They achieved the goal that every team out there is striving for. That can’t be forgotten or diminished.
Call it cope if you want because that’s exactly what the situation calls for. Unless you were one of the many that was dreading this deal from the start. In which case this is a huge sigh of relief and perhaps even validation.
Regardless, the Celtics aren’t going to be a rudderless franchise with no clear path forward (as the Miami Heat might have been if they missed out – which is probably why they were desperate enough to pay the price that they did). We still have a championship core and several different paths to add to the team going forward.
We will, of course, be tracking the next logical question. What’s next? Stay tuned.
