Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge has some brass ones.
We knew the Celtics tried to acquire a big name ahead of the Feb. 18 trade deadline and failed. We also knew that they targeted players we likely never knew about. And, finally, we on some level knew we would find out who those nameless players were.
What we didn’t know is that one of them would end up being Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls.
From Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:
A number of names were linked to the Celtics during that time — Blake Griffin, Kevin Love and Jahlil Okafor being among the most prominent players identified in the Herald as targets of the club. And then there is the NBA executive who, characterizing the Celts’ hunt, was quoted here as saying, “It’s like they took the All-Star roster and used it as Match.com.”
One of those stars whose profile intrigued the Celtics didn’t get to play in that game because of a strained knee. It’s been said that Chicago’s Jimmy Butler would be a good fit here, but multiple sources are telling the Herald that the Celts did, in fact, make a strong move for the 6-foot-7 wing.
According to one source that had at least one player who could have been involved in the potential transaction, the Celtics were willing to give up two first-round draft picks this year — the unprotected pick from the Nets and Dallas’ choice, which is protected 1-through-7.
Bulpett made it clear that this wasn’t one of those situations where the Bulls were looking to move Butler. The Celtics are just armed to the teeth with trade assets and looking to use them.
Whatever they were offering, though, apparently wasn’t enough according, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:
Per that Boston Herald report that the Celtics targeted Jimmy Butler, told offer was of lowball variety and talks didn't advance.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) March 3, 2016
This is hardly surprising. Butler is a known commodity, and the Celtics were likely offering packages built around unknown commodities. Unless the Bulls were gearing up for a full-scale rebuild, it makes little sense to dump a 26-year-old cornerstone—the only known commodity on your own team right now.
This tells us more about the Celtics, and about what we can expect with them from over the offseason. They are going to be aggressive in chasing a star, not just in free agency, but on the trade market. And, again, they have the ammo to get a blockbuster deal done. They just need to find the right partner.
Chicago, for now, isn’t it.
