The Boston Celtics made a play for Dwight Howard.
Well, not really. They made an inquiry. An obligatory one.
According to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, general manager Danny Ainge placed a call to Howard’s reps after free agency began to gauge his interest in joining the Celtics through a sign-and-trade. He was told no.
Surprised? Of course not. Howard’s narrowed his options down to five teams—Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers—and we know that. This was just a call Ainge had to make.
When someone as talented and rare as Howard hits the open market, NBA teams have a responsibility to make that call. There’s no way Ainge was expecting Howard to cancel his other meetings and demand the Lakers trade him to the Celtics, but what if he had? You never know until you call, a mantra that I’d like to believe the Association’s GMs live by.
Before he even dialed the numbers, Ainge had to know it was less than a long shot that Howard wouldn’t rebuff his feeble overtures. Dwight is entering his 10th season in the league and contending for championships reigns supreme in his eyes. After trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, the Celtics aren’t going to be winning any titles next season, or even anytime soon.
Some would posit that a duo of Rajon Rondo and Howard would be powerful enough to emerge as a legitimate threat in the Eastern Conference, and they would probably be right. I sincerely doubt those two get them out of the second round of the playoffs given how the rest of the conference is currently situated, but they would certainly be a postseason team.
Devoid of any cap space, however, the Celtics wouldn’t have been able to sign Howard outright. Again, Ainge specifically mentioned a sign-and-trade. Boston would have had to ship some of its assets off to Los Angeles to facilitate a deal. Look at their roster, it’s difficult to imagine them doing that without dangling Rondo.
Ainge’s best assets are now his primary point man, Avery Bradley and Jeff Green. If he wants to get anything significant done—and I’m not even talking about just Howard–he needs to dangle some combination of that trio. Per Washburn, he won’t. He has no intention of trading any of them.
Don’t expect the Celtics to make any substantial moves before the summer is out then, unless those transactions consist of them dumping some of their most prized assets in exchange for salary cap relief. Realistically, nothing of interest is going to get done if Ainge is unwilling to move either of those three. Opposing outfits aren’t going to be interested in Gerald Wallace’s albatross of a contract and Kris Humphries’ deal, while expiring, isn’t going to be the most appealing of trade chips out there either.
But that’s how it’s supposed to be. Or rather, the Celtics aren’t supposed to be chasing a superstar right now. That’s a better way to put it. Excuse me for implying that paying Wallace $30 million over the next three years is how it’s supposed to be.
Remember, this isn’t about the Celtics retooling with a star or marquee name. Not Howard or Josh Smith or anyone else. Boston shouldn’t be chasing any of them, because 1) it can’t and 2) it’s now built, or angling towards being built, for the future.
Almost a dozen first-round draft picks in hands over the next few years, the Celtics aren’t a team looking to pull off another blockbuster (save for maybe one that dumps Rondo). They now exist to rebuild. And yeah, make obligatory hapless calls to the best NBA free agent alive too.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com. Follow @danfavale on Twitter for his latest posts and all things NBA.
