The Boston Celtics have finished their goal of accumulating assets to equip themselves in a trade.
This is step one of their development program, but they seem to be struggling on the second step-trading for a superstar.
The latest rumors is that they are targeting Blake Griffin and even Jeff Teague. This is already an adjusted goal from the "franchise big man" that they wanted when they were endlessly linked to DeMarcus Cousins.
From a CSNNE broadcast, Chris Mannix was quoted linking the Boston Celtics to Jeff Teague. Mass Live has the quotes (video accessible on link).
"I've heard that Boston's inquired about several players with Atlanta, Teague and Al Horford," Mannix said. "Teague might seem like a weird fit with this team because they already have point guards but he is an asset, he's someone the Celtics could be interested in."
The Celtics already have a platoon of point guards of different sizes like Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart but Teague is a much better asset and it seems like Celtics President Danny Ainge may have to take a step in between: flipping his multiple assets into better assets (via 2 for 1 trades or players + draft pick trades) until the teams that have their target players start to gain interest.
This was pointed out by Hoops Habit when they evaluated the state of the Celtics and their quest for franchise players. They point out that the team has done all the right moves-hiring a brilliant, young coach and even developing their own young players. The article singles out Smart and Jae Crowder as attractive assets to other teams.
There are multiple challenges for the Celtics. One of the major stumbling blocks is the salary cap spike at the start of the next season. This marks the biggest increase of the salary cap ever recorded and it allowed more wiggle room for most of the teams to re-sign their stars, eliminating the need to give them up to a team like Boston.
However, Ainge is willing to wait. While DeMarcus Cousins is not being traded now and the Cavs are shooting down the Kevin Love rumors, the Celtics will look around and wait for the perfect opportunity.