The trade that has sent shockwaves through the National Basketball Association all weekend - Philadelphia acquires Boston's No. 1 overall pick in Thursday's draft in exchange for the No. 3 and a future first-rounder - became official Monday, signaling the 76ers are serious about winning now and the Celtics are planning ... something.
The Celtics will receive the No. 3 pick in this draft, and the Los Angeles Lakers' 2018 first-rounder, to which the 76ers own the rights.
The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers are at the forefront of the attention after news broke over the weekend that both teams would be swapping first-round picks in the upcoming NBA Draft, which is scheduled for Thursday. The Celtics moved down two spots to No. 3 and picked up another first-round selection in either 2018 or 2019 with Ainge saying the deal came at no cost to Boston whatsoever.
"History suggests that number one has the greatest odds of producing franchise-level talent and we are confident that this year's draft class has that very potential". His decision to join another team has forced the Pacers to aggressively enter trade negotiations in hopes of receiving a return investment on their 2010 draft pick.
Maybe Ainge is just bullshitting here in order to protect himself from criticism in the event that Fultz turns out to be a superstar, or maybe he really was going to shock everyone and take Josh Jackson or Jayson Tatum with the first pick.
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"It was the best offer we had pretty significantly, by a significant margin", Ainge said of the trade.
The Celtics, on the other hand, have their eyes on getting more athletic at the wing forward positions.
Ainge didn't rule out the possibility that Boston could use the No. 3 pick in a secondary move but seemed to hint that the team made this initial move simply because it believed it could add a future pick while still getting its desired player. "It's a good deal for both teams".
And then come the Celtics, starting the real intrigue. "We've been talking about various things that related to the draft last year, that related to the draft this year", Colangelo, the GM of the Sixers since April 2016, said. They have a supremely talented young core, but will be relying on two players, Ben Simmons and presumably Markelle Fultz, who have yet to play a second in the National Basketball Association, plus another, Joel Embiid, with a long history of health issues. Fultz led the Pac-12 in scoring and finished No. 6 among all Division I players, and was the top freshman scorer in the country.
Given the plethora of young talent that the Sixers now have at their disposal, including Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, the Sixers next step is plotting how aggressive to be in free agency this summer to complement those young homegrown top-of-the-lottery players. Gordon Hayward has also been a favorite considering his former coach in college Brad Stevens is the current head coach for the Celtics.
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