BOSTON — It’s very possible that, unless LeBron James grabs a body part, the
final Celtics’ victory of the season happened Tuesday when they leprechaun’d
their way to the top of the draft lottery.
The following night, revelry surrendered to reality when the Celtics were
blasted 117-104 by Cleveland to start the Eastern Conference finals, feeding the
belief that the distance between LeBron and his biggest threat in the East is
wider than the ocean that separates us politically.
The pummeling was made possible by too much LeBron (38 easy points) and too
little blowback from the Celtics, a combination that sucked the suspense right
out of Game 1 and perhaps this series. The foundation of a sweep is now in
place, and the solution to loosening the chokehold that LeBron has on the East
must wait until we see the Celtics’ plans for that No. 1 overall draft pick this
summer.
Do they use it to take a 19-year-old, which means they’ve decided to wait out
LeBron, which could take years? Or do they swap the pick for more immediate help
and narrow if not close the gap next season?
Judging by what we saw Wednesday at TD Garden, and from what we’ve seen from
LeBron the last five-plus years, the only mystery lies in next season. Not this
season, not now, not with LeBron playing at historic levels and his teammates
falling in line. The Cavs haven’t lost a game now in five weeks or stumbled in
the playoffs, which says plenty about them and also about for what passes for
“elite” challengers in the East.
This Cleveland locomotive is racing toward the Bay Area, building too much steam
for the Pacers, Raptors and perhaps now the Celtics to prevent seven straight
Finals trips by LeBron. We haven’t seen this level of conference control by one
person since Bill Russell in the ’60s — remember, Michael Jordan took a few
years off between three-peats — and LeBron shows no signs of slowing down at age
32. And so, again: Do the Celtics “concede” next season, too, by drafting a
rookie, or bring in a ready-made ringer?
Markelle Fultz, or Jimmy Butler?
The only drawback to holding the No. 1 pick is that there’s no guaranteed
difference-maker in this draft. This isn’t a Shaq draft or a LeBron draft, and
sorry to pick an old Celtics’ scab, but it isn’t a Tim Duncan draft either.
Remember that one? Rick Pitino and the Celtics braced for the chance to get
Duncan in 1997 but were leapfrogged in the lottery by the Spurs. The rest was
history.
The man responsible for calling the shots now is Danny Ainge. He can grab Fultz
or even Lonzo Ball, but both are teenage guards, not a seasoned seven-footer
like Duncan, who played four years of college ball. Maybe they’ll eventually be
good or even great players, but straight out of the gate, will either make a
larger impact as rookies than Avery Bradley, the guard they’re projected to
replace in the Celtics’ lineup?
And even if they’re marginally better than Bradley, will LeBron lose sleep over
that?
“My whole staff and ownership, we sit and try to figure out what is the best
path to take,” said Ainge. “We don’t want to make any mistakes and so far, we’ve
been pretty good.”
Well, Ainge’s drafting history certainly isn’t horrible, but also not exactly
Auerbachian. Will he take the right guy? Let’s focus on the last three years. He
had two first-round picks in 2014: Marcus Smart (No. 6) and James Young (17),
missing on Zach LaVine and Clint Capela. Smart is a solid backup but not star
material and Young doesn’t play.
In 2015 came two more first-rounders, Terry Rozier (backup) and RJ Hunter (out
of the league), while the jury’s out on 2016 pick Jaylen Brown. Ainge’s most
impressive body of work regarding the present Celtics lies with two trades:
Getting Isaiah Thomas for a bowl of chowder and swindling the sad-sack Nets for
a batch of No. 1 picks. And what he does with those picks could determine how
much longer LeBron will reign in the East.
He can cash in his chips, call the Bulls and ask for Butler, an All-Star capable
of making plays at both ends. The Bulls, going nowhere, could bite. Butler would
instantly upgrade Boston’s defense and become a co-scorer to Thomas, reducing
Boston’s need to rely on Thomas to carry the load. It would elevate the Celtics
a few extra levels above Toronto and Washington in a weak conference and invite
suspense in a future series with the Cavs.
It wouldn’t come without some risk: Butler is more expensive than a rookie and
his impact would be more short-term. Same goes for a trade involving Paul
George; he’s an unrestricted free agent in 2018 and Boston can’t surrender the
No. 1 pick for him without some assurances that he’ll re-sign in two summers.
The alternative is to draft the right player — maybe Fultz — and stay in
contention for a while while hoping something breaks your way. In that scenario,
though, LeBron seems built to last at least a few more years. He’s in supreme
physical shape, spending a small fortune each year on caring for his body, and
seems to avoid major injury. He’s also laser-focused on collecting championships
to the point where any future comparisons between him and Jordan will tilt in
his favor.
In these playoffs LeBron is averaging 35 points, nine rebounds, seven assists
and shooting 56 percent from the floor, including a locked-in 47 percent from
deep. Epic stuff.
“It’s hard to believe, but he’s better than when I got into the league,” said
Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “A lot better. Yeah, I didn’t think he could get any
better after that, but he is. Good player. Great player.”
Also, his help remains solid: Kevin Love (32 points, 12 rebounds in Game 1) is
playing his best ball as a Cavalier, while Kyrie Irving just turned 25.
LeBron had an interesting reaction to the Celtics winning the lottery: “It was
like, OK, to be a very, very good team and get the No. 1 pick, they got the
better side of that situation with Brooklyn, I’ll tell you that.”
Yes, true. But here’s what LeBron didn’t say: I’m worried.
Because, why should he be? The player Boston drafts, if the Celtics keep it,
will probably get his autograph before he beats him.
The last “very, very” good team to also hold the No. 1 pick was the 1982 Lakers,
who took advantage of the Ted Stepien-owned Cavaliers the same way Ainge did the
Nets and drafted James Worthy. The difference is the Lakers then were defending
champs and in the middle stage of the “Showtime” era. These Celtics are a 50-win
level team trying to beat LeBron with a 5-9 guard as their best player by far.
Not the same.
After his team own the lottery, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck joked about wishing
the No. 1 pick could arrive in time to help Boston in the Eastern Conference
finals. Well, in the opener, LeBron and the Cavs won by 13 and made it look
breezy Wednesday, and help for the No. 2 team in the East won’t arrive until
next season.
Will he be a rookie, or a proven veteran star? Armed with an asset that may or
may not make a difference next time he meets LeBron, Celtics GM Danny Ainge has
some thinking to do. And he’ll have plenty of time on his hands to ponder,
should this series end quickly as expected.
Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications
for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and
follow him on Twitter.
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