NBA Free-Agency Rumors (Photo : REUTERS)
After making a surprising return to the playoffs in just a year after trading the core of the 2008 championship team, the Boston Celtics will try to use the assets they accumulated through a series of transactions the past two seasons to make a home-run deal that would catapult them back to title contention next season.
Celtics top front-office honcho Danny Ainge is in position to pull off another monster deal this offseason after spending the last two seasons making trades to collect assets in the form of draft picks and young talents, and create more cap flexibility in order for them to absorb max contract player whenever it's necessary.
Several years after coming through with a pair of blockbuster deal that allowed them to acquire both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Ainge told that he's not ruling out the possibility of making big moves this offseason, especially if they are given a heck of opportunity to drastically improve their roster.
"What we've tried to do is put ourselves in the game to have those options, have some opportunities to make big moves. So I guess if there's big moves we like, we do them," Ainge told Marc D'Amico of Celtics.com. "If there are big moves we're not in love with, we hold out and wait."
Roughly two weeks before the start of free-agency season, the Celtics are already being linked to both free-agent power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and shooting guard Jimmy Butler as a potential destination.
Aldridge, considered the best big man available this summer, is expected to receive multiple offers this offseason, with the lucrative ones coming from big market teams like the Celtics. CSN Northeast NBA writer A Sherrod Blakely even speculated about the prospect of pulling off a sign-and-trade deal for the Celtics to acquire Aldridge from the Blazers.
Butler, on the other hand, will test the market as an unrestricted free-agent but NBA insiders view the two-way player as someone who could be had, if he's presented an offer that would blow away the Bulls' top brass, via CSNNE.
Although the big moves will not happen until July 1, speculations of Butler and Aldridge joining forces in green uniform even hit fever pitch following an Instagram photo that showed the Bulls guard photo bombing Aldridge. It may seem innocent to the naked eye, but several insiders are starting to believe that these two All-Stars are beginning to align as the free-agency season draws near.
