A lack of clarity comes into focus for Celtics future on draft night

Danny Ainge couldn’t officially confirm the rumors swirling around the futures of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford following the NBA Draft. He couldn’t even talk about trading away his former starting center Aron Baynes with the 24th overall pick to the Phoenix Suns for a future first-round selection. Yet, on a night where he was forced to dodge questions about free agent outcomes and possibilities, the moves of the evening weren’t subject to interpretation.

“I shouldn’t really comment on anything until things are done. I really can’t comment on all the things that are said to have happened yet, unfortunately,” Ainge said. “Need to wait. I wish I could. I wish I didn’t have to have my counsel here to protect me from getting fined. I wish I could tell you everything I know, but I can’t.”

We will get the full story once free agency begins and decisions become official, but Ainge and Stevens remained surprisingly positive about what looks to be a long road back towards contending following the expected departures of Irving and Horford.

“This is fun,” Ainge said of the task before him. “I'm surrounded by a great staff, a coaching staff and a scouting staff. We're prepared for this. We know what is before us coming into July was very possible and we're prepared. Very confident.”

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about the Celtics' draft picks

Some maneuvering around cap space was certainly part of the plan during draft night as the Celtics dumped Baynes and his $5.4 million into cap room as part of a swap of first round picks with the Suns. That move and trading back with Philadelphia at No. 20 created the ability to open up $25 million in cap room immediately for the Celtics in free agency even while keeping the cap hold of restricted free agent Terry Rozier on the books. Without him, that number could jump to $34 million, enough to let the Celtics get into the bidding on some less experienced free agents.

The problem for the Celtics is whether they will actually be competitive to land the guys that are worthy of a max free agent deal. Shams Charamia of Stadium connected the Celtics to Magic big man Nikola Vucevic as a potential suitor to fill their huge hole in the middle, but there will be plenty of competition for the big man. How much Vucevic could even push the needle for this Celtics squad is also very much subject to debate and the same will go for his price tag. The team may be better off going alternate routes, including stepping back for a year to reload assets by renting out cap room but Ainge sounds like someone who wants to be mix for top tier names this July, at least to start.

“Maybe the players and the names on the jersey change, but the approach is the same,” Ainge said of the C’s attitude during free agency. “We have a very attractive franchise to play for, and there’s a lot of people who would be dying to come play here.”

That defiant stance was reflective of a proud franchise that is trying to pull itself off the mat after a disastrous 12 months. The Celtics are certainly working with more than scratch within their current pieces still under contract but the optics of where the franchise is right now is not great. They are reportedly being turned down by their top two players but Ainge spent his time trying to build the remaining pieces up and what they could be in a new environment.

“I’m excited about our team going forward,” Ainge said. “I like where we’re headed. I like the core young group of guys and I think it’s going to be really fun. We’re going to be a really competitive team again. And I don’t know what exactly the team is going to look like when it’s all done, but free agency starts in 10 days or so and we’ll have more answers then. But I really like the core group of players that we have.”

It remains to be seen just how much the team’s draft picks can add to that core in the short term. Grant Williams (defense) and Carsen Edwards (scoring) serve as role players in the NBA with various skillsets that should translate well from the collegiate level. Romeo Langford was a former top-5 college prospect before hurting his thumb and suffering through a down offensive year at Indiana. The team is gambling that he’ll live up to that initial potential as a scoring wing in the right system with a clean bill of health.

None of these players should bring the Celtics much closer to contending in the interim though. The Celtics are going to have to bet on these pieces developing nicely and hope their leftover talent like Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward and Jaylen Brown become clear cut top-three options as they all have shown at various points of their career.

There is still a window of opportunity for Boston to some degree for at least one more season when it comes to cap room and maximizing young talent. The team reloaded with some young cheap talent on Thursday and kicked the can on one of its first-round pick until next year (it should land in the 20s from Milwaukee). That plus the Memphis pick should come in handy for future star chasing. The need now for the Celtics to get back towards the top though is for several pieces of talent on this roster to take their games to the next level. That will either enable this team to trade some prospects for the next available star or help them lead this franchise back towards a contending level on their own, which could make Boston an appealing destination again in free agency. Opportunity is very much here and the Celtics are left with betting on their own talent to seize it.

“Obviously, the way this year went, it didn’t feel good,” Stevens said. “With that said, because of the great work that our front office has done over the years, even when we are in a position where we’ll have some uncertainty as we move forward, we are in pretty good shape. I think that, obviously, these are new opportunities. An opportunity to really evaluate where we are, what we need to do and everything else. We feel good about our foundation and want to learn from the disappointment that we all shared. Also, we’re optimistic and positive as we look towards the future. That’s been the whole vibe in the building, but I certainly understand why it may not be on the outside.”

How the Celtics fare in the next month in free agency or trades should tell us a lot more about how optimistic the team has a right to be about the immediate future. For now, they played it by the book on draft night, maximizing assets by trading down and out of picks, creating more flexibility with their cap sheet and focusing on high character players. The team’s odds of staying competitive at the top of the East will be very dependent on how their competitors fare with big free agent decisions. If the Raptors, Bucks, or Sixers lose key pieces, the East could be wide open to a certain extent, although Giannis should remain the favorite. For now, Stevens will have Hayward and a whole lot of youth to try to mold as the C’s turn the page on a disastrous year. The pressure will remain high to bounce back strong from the debacle. Ainge and his front office have plenty of work to do as well after stocking the cupboard with some youth that leaves plenty of questions about what’s next for this franchise.

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