Until this summer, Danny Ainge stayed the course with the treasure chest of draft picks that he has slowly but surely assembled over the last five years. The president of basketball operations used all four of his acquired picks in 2015, six(!) of a possible eight in 2016 and all four again in 2017 (trading down to No. 3 overall with the No. 1 selection).
The crown jewel of that stash of picks has always been the assortment of Nets first rounders picked up in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce deal. Up until this summer, the Celtics have remained patient with those specific selections, using all three in some form, including picking up a bonus first round selection for the Nets pick in 2017, while still getting the guy they wanted all along in Jayson Tatum at No. 3.
Ainge flipped from the script on that strategy in August though, dealing away (at the time) his most valuable asset in the 2018 unprotected Brooklyn pick, along with Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and eventually a second-round pick for Kyrie Irving.
After 40 games, it’s probably too early to completely assess the deal as a whole, but it’s safe to say that the Celtics would feel comfortable making that trade again even if they knew the Nets pick would land in the top-3 in this year’s draft. Irving has been that good in Boston, raising his game a level under Brad Stevens, while the other pieces of the deal have largely floundered (Crowder, Zizic) or have yet to be seen (Thomas) in Cleveland.
Back in July, I had a sense that the 2018 Nets pick may lose some value as the 2017-18 season progressed, and the Celtics may have shared that idea when they elected to gamble on the Irving deal. Five months later and it’s evident: The Celtics wisely sold high on their best asset.
The Nets are just 13-23 over their first 36 games and just three games ahead of the Atlanta Hawks, the worst team in the NBA. However, their play at the TD Garden on Sunday night demonstrates exactly why this team won’t be falling any closer to the bottom of the pack this year in the standings. Brooklyn obviously has no reason to tank without their own first round pick, but this squad also finally looks comfortable in Kenny Atkinson’s uptempo system. In his second year at the helm, he has this group working hard and cohesively, playing respectable basketball despite missing two of their most talented guards in Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell. Look no further than this play in the final minute of yesterday's game:
This possession from the Nets is their identity in a nutshell. pic.twitter.com/AEIWMgBS2b
— Anthony Puccio (@APOOCH) January 1, 2018