Losing Avery Bradley hurts, but Gordon Hayward’s Celtics will be fun to watch
Hayward will remind us early and often that the tradeoff had to be made.
COMMENTARY
In 30-plus years of watching the Celtics, I can recall anticipating exactly two press conferences:
The one introducing new acquisitions Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in August 2007, which also featured beaming holdover star Paul Pierce and did not disappoint.
And Rick Pitino’s promised farewell Q&A after suddenly quitting the team in Miami in January 2001, a get-together that I’m beginning to think may never happen.
The pending introduction of Gordon Hayward rates up there in terms of anticipation, I suppose, if only for the optimism that comes with it and the formality of confirming that, yes, the Celtics have indeed signed another genuine star. It’s a day for the organization to gloat a little, and fans should be satisfied too.
I just wish we didn’t have to wait so long to see him play, and not just because he’s an established and still-ascending All-Star whose shot-creating skills fill a gaping void in the Celtics’ offense.
It won’t be until Hayward slips on the green and white jersey – presumably adorned with Allen’s old No. 20 – and does his thing for the Celtics that the disappointment of watching Avery Bradley go will fully fade.
Make no mistake, this had to happen. Acquiring Hayward, even at the expense of a tough, respected, true professional like Bradley, was absolutely the right thing to do. Hayward is a superior player.
Further, Bradley’s contract is up at season’s end, and he’s going to get Paid, capital P. Ainge wasn’t going to be able to keep Bradley and Isaiah Thomas, and Marcus Smart, and Terry Rozier. Trading Bradley cleared the most cap space – more than trading Jae Crowder would have — and the deal with Detroit was a roster-balancing move that brought back a versatile and reliable offensive player in Marcus Morris. I suspect he will thrive under Brad Stevens. Then again, after what Evan Turner did here two years ago, I now believe every NBA misfit toy will thrive under Stevens.
Under the circumstances, it was a good deal. It’s just too bad that these were the circumstances. Bradley was such a fine Celtic. He was their best offensive player every couple of nights, and their best defensive player virtually every night. He did nothing but improve during his time here. He was a quiet leader, often a big-game stalwart (see: Game 3, Eastern Conference Finals), a coach’s dream.
It’s funny, I was coaching at a youth basketball camp over the weekend, and at least a half-dozen fellow coaches approached me at random moments to specifically lament that Bradley had to go. The clipboard-and-whistle crowd knows he embodies the kind of player you want on your team. I hope casual Celtics fans appreciate him the way the diehards do, and I believe they do. He’ll be missed by all.
That feeling is going to linger somewhat until the new season begins in October. Only then will it truly fade. Hayward will remind us early and often that the tradeoff had to be made, that Bradley had to be sacrificed to those malevolent rather than benevolent salary cap gods in order to bring in a necessary player of Hayward’s caliber.
These are not the only changes, of course. Kelly Olynyk, who is collecting $50 million from Pat Riley – the apparent Plan B on money initially earmarked for Hayward in Miami? – was an enigmatic player here who somehow delivered a Game 7 26-point playoff performance against the Wizards that guarantees him a small but permanent part in Celtics lore. We can simultaneously wish him well and be grateful an East rival is paying him $50 million. This is not a ghost capable of haunting.
The revisionist historians among us all knew at the time, of course, that Ainge was making a huge mistake in taking Olynyk over Giannis Antetokounmpo with the 13th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Lots of Greece youth basketball league fans around here, apparently.
Yes, the Greek Freak, who went 15th to the Bucks – one pick after Shabazz Muhammed went to the Timberwolves — would have been a far better pick. We know this now. I’m calling nonsense on anyone who claims to have known it then. Olynyk was a solid player whose skills fit the modern game. I suspect anyone who claims Ainge blew this pick can’t spell Giannis without cheating, let alone Antetokounmpo.
For now, introductory press conferences and summer ball have to fill the NBA void. Stepback-master Jayson Tatum looks like he’s going to be a wonderful offensive player early in his NBA career, though perhaps not as early as it seems now. He needs to get stronger and acquire a few more clues on defense. Remember, Jaylen Brown was raw this year, and he currently is the sage veteran of the Celtics’ summer league entry. They’re both going to require a little more patience.
Really, this whole offseason is going to require patience. It’s only when we get to watch this team play for keeps, to finally see Hayward and his new friends on the court rather than behind a podium, we will truly appreciate who is here rather than lamenting who is not.
