Entering Wednesday’s action, three teams — the Pacers, Heat and Celtics — are tied for the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Pacers and Heat being in the mix for playoff spots makes sense. But the Celtics? Boston traded its two most talented players this season, Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green, in moves designed to continue the rebuilding process that began in the summer of 2013, when Doc Rivers was allowed to leave to coach the Clippers and Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were dealt to the Nets.
Frankly, Brad Stevens is coaching the Celtics right out of the rebuilding plan the front office has tried to map out for the franchise.
The Celtics have a bunch of mediocre-to-decent players, and they have none who are surefire foundation pieces for a contending team. Usually teams in this kind of situation are populated with a couple of young players on the rise, spearheading the growth of the franchise — think Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker (before he got hurt) in Milwaukee or Anthony Davis in New Orleans.
The Celtics don’t have that budding star. Marcus Smart is the only one with that potential, but he could also become the next Tony Allen — an excellent perimeter defender with a limited offensive game. Otherwise, Boston possesses a roster full of role players, the likes of Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley and Tyler Zeller. They are helpful, decent players, not the kind of players who turn a team into a contender.
Which is why Celtics general manager Danny Ainge has amassed a war chest of draft picks — two first-round picks this year, three next year and more owed to them in future seasons — that they hope will allow them to acquire franchise-changing talents.
It seems, though, the Celtics will have more luck doing so by using those picks in trades, as Ainge did in 2007 to acquire Ray Allen and Garnett, rather than drafting players, because they don’t seem likely to be near the top of the draft anytime soon.
That’s because Stevens — after being one of the top coaches in the college game at Butler — has become one of the top coaches in the NBA in less than two years with the Celtics. While at Butler, he became known for his ability to get the most out of his players as well as being a genius when it came to Xs and Os.
That skill has carried over to the NBA. Boston has become one of the league’s best teams at executing out of timeouts. The addition of Isaiah Thomas at the trade deadline has helped the Celtics’ recent surge into playoff contention, giving them the go-to scorer late in games. But this team was overachieving before his arrival last month.
The question, though, is whether overachieving will hurt the Celtics in the long run. Stevens certainly has the capability to be a championship-level coach if the talent on the roster can be upgraded. But Boston has never been a free agent destination despite the franchise’s incredible history of success, and the bidding will be tough, with almost every team in the league set to have massive amounts of cash when the salary cap will spike to around $90 million in 2016.
The trade route could be an option, after the Celtics’ attempts to land Kevin Love from the Timberwolves once the Cavaliers lucked into No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins, the centerpiece of that LeBron James-fueled deal.
But the lack of soon-to-be superstars will make it difficult for them to recruit a current one. You could throw Smart into a trade, but that, plus some picks, might not be enough for a team dangling a star player.
The best chance the Celtics may have of getting the kind of foundation talent could be through the trade they made with the Nets in 2013, when they acquired first-round picks in 2014, 2016 and 2018 — as well as the right to swap picks in 2017 — in exchange for Garnett, Pierce and Jason Terry. But those picks might not be so high after the Nets deploy upwards of $50 million to retool the roster in July 2016.
There are worse problems to have, however, than having a lot of first-round picks and a coach who is getting far more than he should out of a limited roster. While the Celtics still have plenty of work to do before they begin chasing championships as they did during the Big Three Era, at least they know they have a coach capable of the task — assuming he can be given a capable roster.
With the news that Adidas will not be the NBA’s official apparel sponsor after the 2016-17 season, the battle lines will likely once again be drawn between Nike and Under Armour to take over the contract.
Under Armour has made massive strides in the sports apparel world over the past decade, firmly entrenching themselves as a player in the marketplace alongside Nike and Adidas. The company made a huge run at Kevin Durant last year — only for Durant to turn them down and re-up with Nike — and has arguably the league’s most popular player, Stephen Curry, as its signature face.
It won’t be a surprise to see Under Armour aggressively pursue the contract. They may actually be the favorites.
The Thunder just can’t catch a break — or, to put it more accurately, they can’t stop catching them.
Serge Ibaka became the latest Oklahoma City star to suffer an injury, likely missing the rest of the regular season and possibly the first round of the playoffs — assuming the Thunder even make it — after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his knee this week.
The Thunder, without Ibaka or Durant, are in a tie with the Pelicans for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Thunder might only be saved by their schedule, which is far weaker than what the Pelicans face.
It’s hard to believe a team with Durant, Ibaka and Russell Westbrook could miss the playoffs, but given the Thunder’s avalanche of injuries, perhaps it is not meant to be.