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As new rumors continue to emerge, it’s clear that Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics are determined to move up in Thursday night’s NBA Draft order. Yesterday afternoon, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated quoted one NBA executive referring to the Celtics as “one of the few teams thinking big.” Their latest rumored trade offer proves just that.
A report in the Los Angeles Times says that the Celtics reportedly offered Marcus Smart and the Nos. 16 and 28 picks of this year’s draft to the Philadelphia 76ers for Nerlens Noel and the No. 3 overall pick. The 76ers rejected.
Pump the brakes please, Mr. Ainge. Smart has a bright future in this league, and I’d prefer for it to be with this team. He has the potential to become an elite perimeter defender. Smart plays with great passion and aggression on the defensive end of the floor and offensively showcased an ability to knock down the three last year. The pairing of Smart and Avery Bradley could give the Celtics one of the better defensive backcourts in the league.
This isn’t a knock against Noel either. He had a great rookie campaign last year after sitting out his actual rookie season. He really came on towards the end of the year, averaging over 14 points and 11 rebounds per game for the month of March. The interest in Noel is understandable given the Celtics’ need for a rim protector — Noel averaged nearly two blocks per game last year — and he would certainly improve their rebounding as well.
If the Celtics are in search of a young rim protector like Noel, they could find one in this year’s draft. Given their assets, it’s more likely that the Celtics could move up into the later stages of lottery picks and then draft a player like Myles Turner or Willie Cauley-Stein, allowing them to hang on to Smart.
Ainge said today that no player on the Celtics is “untouchable” and he is no stranger to trading away key players; just ask Kendrick Perkins. Yet I wonder if he truly feels that way about Smart. Ainge couldn’t have possibly thought this trade would be accepted. Smart has great potential, but after just one season I don’t think he’s worth a top-three pick. Perhaps it was an empty proposal just to show other teams that the Celtics are willing to try to make a deal.
One thing is for sure: The Celtics are certainly going to explore each and every possibility to move up. It’s clear Ainge and the Celtics have targeted certain players and aren’t confident they’ll be available when the Celtics are on the clock. They will certainly be one of the more active teams leading up to and during the draft. Get your popcorn ready, Celtics fans.
Derek McVay is a Boston Celtics beat writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mcvay34, or add him to your network on Google.
