Kevin Love did not last long as an unrestricted free agent. The Cleveland Cavaliers wasted no time to lock him up to max deal, with no less than LeBron James allegedly brokering the deal.
While Cavaliers fans may heave a sigh of relief with the five-year, $ 110 million deal that the All-Star forward signed. At least they would not lose him for nothing in free agency.
The Cavs are definitely betting on Kevin Love, even placing Jason Thompson's signing up in the air. But there are still some teams that are waiting in the wings in case it does not work out. The Boston Celtics is definitely one of them.
In an ESPN Front Office feature, Tom Penn mentioned that "(David) Lee is an interesting trade chip in combination with the draft picks, as well. " This is because Lee's contract is expiring and whichever team he lands on, he will have to prove himself.
How will the Boston Celtics use the pick? Team president Danny Ainge has had a reputation of being "opportunistic" as he hopes that his rebuilding strategy of asset collection will bear fruit when the right player at the right time comes. He would not balk on capitalizing on another team's discord.
In the same discussion, Amin Elhassan paints this picture: "Let's say Kevin Love is having another lackluster season with the Cavaliers -- it's not what they envisioned out of him." The Celtics can dangle the Lee expiring contract and some of their battalion of draft picks.
For the Cavs, this can be a healthy reset if the situation arises. Lee can play out the season and if the Cavs are not satisfied, they'll get the cap space to chase a free agent and they will have draft picks to boot. It should be noted that the Brooklyn picks the Celtics possess actually increased in value with the departure of Deron Williams.
This scenario may or may not happen, but it is part of the long-term planning involved in the front office. If the chips play out, we might see the Celtics finally catching a prize they have long coveted.