There was no Porzingis, no Butler, and no draft-night fireworks for the Boston Celtics. For the second straight year, the Cs used their lottery pick earned in the Garnett, Pierce and Terry trade to monotonously select a small forward coming out of college, despite a plethora of intriguing rumors centered around their high draft position. The pre-draft speculation got far more interesting on Thursday with the New York Knicks’ former President Phil Jackson announcing that the team would be entertaining trade offers on big man and budding superstar Kristaps Porzingis. Given the Celtics’ recent move of trading down to the number three draft spot, many believed that if Porzingis were to move, Boston would be a potential suitable location. On draft night, another rumor popped up involving the Celtics. Prior to his move to the Timberwolves, the Bulls reportedly offered to trade Jimmy Butler to the Celtics for the number three pick in this year’s draft, but Boston declined. While another year of drafting and developing may be the boring route to take, it is the right move for a team that should not be in win-now mode.

Despite their success this past season, the Celtics are currently building for the future. The 2014 trade with the Brooklyn Nets has allowed the Celtics to be a competitive team while they are rebuilding their young talent, which will eventually give them a chance to win a title. Notice how I called them a competitive team, not a contending team. In the modern NBA, there are two and a half teams in true contention for the title; Golden State, Cleveland and San Antonio. While the Spurs lag behind the top two, it is difficult for me to rule them out entirely. The playoffs say everything you need to know about the state on the NBA. This year, there was only one series upset in the entire tournament, with the fifth seeded Utah Jazz defeating the fourth seeded L.A. Clippers in seven games (I don’t count the Eastern Conference Finals). The last three years have featured the exact same Finals match-up. The NBA has become the worst thing a league can be: predictable. Almost a year before next year’s Finals, I predict that the Golden State Warriors will defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers to claim their second straight title, their third in four years.

The Celtics should take the state of the league into account when building their team this offseason. While their current success is exciting, the team cannot risk its chance to win a title four or five years from now in order to reach the Eastern Conference Finals now. This is not an argument for tanking, it is an argument for not being stupid. As a Celtics fan, I was praying for Porzingis to make a move to Boston, mostly because he is 22 years old. If another young, proven player is on the move, the team should use their assets to make the deal happen. However, I am not willing to give up the number three pick in a deep draft for two years of Jimmy Butler (before his contract expires and likely joins a super-team of his own). I would rather see Jayson Tatum in a Celtics uniform than Jimmy Butler, because Tatum has chance to play a role in a championship. The goal of the organization should be titles, not marginal competition. While that competition is great in the short-term, this team has amassed too many assets and has had too much of a winning history to be thinking about Eastern Conference Finals appearances over banners.

With Paul George off the table as of Friday night, the Celtics must turn towards free agency. While this is an option which will allow Boston to win in the short-term without giving up assets which may win them a championship in the future, drawing free agents to Boston has always been a challenge. In his 14-year tenure as the Celtics’ General Manager, Danny Ainge has hardly been known for his free agent signings. Before last years’ signing of Al Horford, Ainge’s notable free agents have included Rasheed Wallace and an extremely washed up Shaq. Given recent history, Celtics fans should be reluctant to fall into the whirlwind of free agent rumors. That being said, it is hard not to fall into the trap. Boston is currently one of three teams that will have a meeting with Gordon Hayward this off-season. Compared to the Jazz and the Heat, the Celtics are the best fit for Hayward from a basketball standpoint. Adding him would likely solidify the Celtics as the second best team in the East, and moving out of the West would keep Hayward away from the Golden State Goliath that swept his Jazz in the Conference Semifinals. Furthermore, the small forward is proven to work well in Brad Stevens’ system from his days playing under him at Butler.

If the Cs’ free agent woes continue and they are unable to sign Hayward, there are a few mid-level players that Boston should consider. Both Rudy Gay and Danilo Gallinari have been linked to the Celtics. I would be hesitant to sign either player to a long-term contract which would prevent the team from making moves in the future; I believe they would both be effective signings to help the team in the short-run and players would give the team a scoring boost as well as provide a height advantage over current small forward Jae Crowder (especially the 6’10” Gallinari). Despite these potential improvements and the fact that there are moves to make this offseason for the Celtics, who should look to upgrade at the small forward position, these moves could bind them financially from taking that next step of being able to vie for a spot in the Finals. They should remain the favorite for landing Gordon Hayward this July, and at the very least make a smaller acquisition if their bigger plans fall through. However, if this is another offseason of disappointment, the franchise should refrain from over-extending itself for a mediocre free agent. As far as this Celtics team is concerned, doing nothing is better than doing something which will prevent them from signing a marque free agent in five years.

Believe it or not, the Boston Celtics are in the middle of a rebuild. This remains true, despite earning the (fake) number one seed in the East and reaching their first Eastern Conference Final since 2012. Just three seasons ago, in Brad Stevens’ first year as head coach, the team finished 25-57 feeling the immediate repercussions of trading Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets for three first round draft picks. In this short period of time, the Celtics have solidified themselves as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference, largely due to the 2015 deadline trade for point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Phoenix Suns. Over the next two and a half seasons, Isaiah would emerge as the center-piece of the franchise, leading Boston into the playoffs all three years. This 2017 season was different for Thomas, as the Celtics acquired big-man and facilitator Al Horford. The Horford signing enabled Boston to play an effective high pick-and-roll offense, capitalizing on a strong shooting season from Isaiah. This addition, coupled with Thomas’ development, helped the 5’9” powerhouse become the NBA’s third leading scorer in 2017, behind MVP favorites Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

Despite Isaiah’s impressive scoring season, the Eastern Conference Finals cast doubt on his future with the Celtics. Thomas was pulled out of game two with a hip injury, while the Cleveland Cavaliers were up by about 50 points. He was sidelined for the rest of the series, and is currently being evaluated to see if surgery is necessary. Down two games to none with their best player out, the Celtics stole game three in Cleveland, raising the idea of moving on from Thomas in the off-season. Not to say that the team is better without Isaiah at the helm, but deficiencies in his game, his expiring contract, and the need for the Celtics to develop young players makes a deal involving Thomas possible, if a team is willing to overpay based on his 2017 regular season performance.

The Case for Trading Isaiah Thomas

It is difficult to remember a time when the third leading scorer in the NBA was not on the trading block. This is because Isaiah Thomas is not the typical third leading scorer, and the Celtics are not the typical number one seed. At 5’9”, Thomas is tied with rookie Kay Felder as the shortest player in the NBA. In a tall man’s game, Isaiah’s height has held him back on the defensive end, making him a liability late in games. In an article written for Bleacher Report in April 2017, author Adam Fromal ranks Isaiah Thomas as the second worst defensive point guard in the league (out of players who play a minimum of 15 minutes per game) based on metrics. He stands dead last among those qualifying players in Defensive Real Plus/Minus and Defensive Points Saved. His defensive shortcomings are well displayed on the court. While Thomas has been embraced in Boston for his late-game offensive heroics, Brad Stevens is quick to take him off the floor in key defensive scenarios down the stretch, whenever he has the chance. During the regular season, Isaiah’s small stature did not impact his offensive game. Not only was he able to create separation and make jump shots, but Thomas was also successful in finishing around the basket. Despite being towered over in the paint, Thomas posted an NBA-best 12.7 drives to the basket per game, allowing him to get high-percentage shots.

Thomas’ scoring success came to an end during the Eastern Conference Finals. The increased defensive efforts of the Cavaliers, led by a dominant Tristan Thompson in the paint shut down the small-statured Isaiah. He shot 7-19 (.368) for 17 points in a 13-point loss in game one, and shot 0-6 before leaving with a hip injury in the second quarter of game 2, an eventual 44 point loss. If winning championships is the goal, Thomas’ performance against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals should be weighed more heavily than that of the regular season in deciding his fate with the team. This season, Thomas proved that he is capable of being a prolific scorer in the NBA, but can he act as the centerpiece of championship winning team?

I do not believe that a player who is only capable of dominating one side of the court can be a championship winning franchise player, especially one who is 5’9”. While Isaiah may have the potential to be the number three player on a championship team, his ball-dependent style of play is best suited for an offense that runs through him. In a league where Mike Conley is the second highest paid player, Thomas is likely to receive max contract offers when his deal with the Celtics expires in 2018. Given the current landscape of the Eastern Conference, a Celtics team centered around Isaiah Thomas likely lacks the star power necessary to get past the dominant Cavaliers, even with the addition of a player like Jimmy Butler or Gordon Hayward. Locking Isaiah up for the future would only help the team compete in the short-run, and would not bring them any closer to winning their 18th title. Furthermore, it could possibly hurt the development of potential number one pick Markelle Fultz. Isaiah’s presence in the back-court is likely to take playing time away from the prospect, who has the potential to be a generational talent, and could even turn the team off from drafting him if the Boston thinks they have found their point guard of the future in Thomas. The Celtics should be more focused on winning a title after LeBron’s decline than on improving their current marginal success. In order to make way for Fultz’s development and to get some return on possibly losing Thomas to free agency if he demands a max contract (which the Celtics should not give him), they should explore the market for Thomas in a trade while his stock is the highest it has ever been.