Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives against the Golden State Warriors defense during Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals (Photo : Getty Images / Noah Graham)
The Boston Celtics is still poised to make a big trade to gain a superstar and the situation with Russell Westbrook is the best opportunity for them.
However, the Oklahoma City Thunder knows that Westbrook is the only remnant of the All-Star team they assembled over three years. James Harden and Serge Ibaka were traded and Kevin Durant left. The Thunder will certainly look to get young star talent in return-or at least the potential to build again.
The Celtics has a plethora of players to offer the Thunder at every position except center (which the Thunder doesn't need anyway). They could easily cover the point guard position with Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier and they even signed Demetrius Jackson. Avery Bradley can also play point and one of the better perimeter defenders.
The small forward position is also a need for the Thunder. They had a good one but he left for the Warriors. It's a safe bet that Jae Crowder is the best target but rookie Jaylen Brown may be a good investment.
The Boston fans are known to think too highly of their players and be very stingy in trade discussions. Some don't even think that Jae Crowder is worth trading for players like Kevin Love or Blake Griffin straight up (which is ridiculous). But Danny Ainge has handled this case before. He knows that trading for a star is worth it and it's the only way to win a title. Their 17th banner is a testament to that.
What package could the Thunder ask from the Celtics? Mass Live had what they believe is the "worst case scenario" trade. If, for any reason Thunder GM Sam Presti had the leverage (if any team offers a legit young superstar, for example and the Celtics has to match), the trade would like this:
Isaiah Thomas, Jaylen Brown, Avery Bradley, RJ Hunter and the two Brooklyn Nets picks (unprotected swap in 2017 and unprotected in 2018).
That's steep, but it looks more of a "present vs future trade." The Celtics will remain competitive because they get to keep Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart. Thomas is not a good fit with Westbrook anyway, and the Celts will have Westbrook and Al Horford with Amir Johnson, Crowder and possibly Smart as their starting five. They can definitely contend in the Eastern Conference Finals and maybe beyond.
For the Thunder, Presti gets his chance to work his draft magic again a decade after it all started with the Kevin Durant pick. But they don't need to tank and they still have a fringe playoff team in the West (Thomas is an All-Star, lest we forget).
But the big question is whether Danny Ainge will pull the trigger. If Westbrook gave an assurance to re-sign with them, he probably will. The assets are overrated if they are not traded. They have too many young players already, none of them projects a ceiling as high as Westbrook. Who knows if any of the future draft picks will also have that much upside? Westbrook is already the real deal.
Superstars win championships, not deep benches. The last two Finals were disputed by two teams with three All-Star level players. Even if you go back to the 2013 and 2014 Finals series which featured the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs, both teams also had superstar trios.
The Thunder needs to play its cards right, build up a bidding war to coax the Celtics into a "Godfather offer." For Ainge, he is bold enough to do this and he knows that if needs to, he can somehow accumulate assets again.
