The Boston Celtics have a lot of momentum entering the 2015 offseason. They have several players on the team that are developing into true talent. They have plenty of salary cap space to spend. They have tradable assets and a slew of draft picks to use or trade. General manager Danny Ainge plans on being aggressive while the plan is to trade around in the draft and pursue as many big-named free agents as they can.
According to the Boston Herald, the pursuit of Kevin Love and potentially LaMarcus Aldridge is out. The Celtics could now turn their attention to Marc Gasol, Paul Millsap or Greg Monroe with their salary cap space. Ainge made it clear that the team is aiming for defenders and rebounding help. All three options are both versatile in shooting and defending which could help add something extra to the Celtics roster.
Boston will also look to fill this need in the draft. They could do it by staying put and drafting at their assigned spots in the first round, or they could aim for a trade up. According to JournalTimes.com, the Celtics are dangling their first-round draft picks in trade ups as they hold the No.16, 28th, 33rd and 45th pick. The Celtics do not intend on drafting at all of those spots, but instead are hoping to at least make a leap into the lottery section of the draft to acquire talent.
"One thing no one's ever accused us of is being afraid to make calls," director of player personnel Austin Ainge said via MassLive.com, "so we definitely will talk to a lot of teams. But these are things we'll get a sense of."
According to the Herald, the Celtics are eying several players including Justise Winslow, Willie Cauley-Stein and Frank Kaminsky. The first two will certainly require moves up from the No.16 pick as the Celtics could consider trying to strike a deal with teams like the New York Knicks who are eyeing moves down the draft board.
The Celtics also have trade deals they could strike with Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger and Gerald Wallace via ESPNBoston.com. All three players are considered on the trade block for the team as Ainge looks to acquire as much talent as possible in the offseason.
