NBA Notebook: Why a quiet trade deadline looks beneficial for Celtics now

As teams around the league gather in their home markets this week to start regularly testing for coronavirus and ramping up workouts ahead of training camp, the Celtics should find themselves in an unfamiliar spot when it comes to their roster: At full health.

Despite going 43-21 over the first 64 games of the regular season, the Celtics only managed to have their usual starting five in place for just 16 of those games due to injuries. Essentially every member of the starting five was out for a significant stretch at some point of the year, with Kemba Walker (knee) and Jaylen Brown (hamstring) sidelined once the regular season came to an abrupt halt in March.

A completely healthy C’s lineup looked like a pipe dream if the regular season and postseason continued on schedule in the spring. Walker was bothered by knee soreness that lingered for months and had caused a drop-off in his play. Other players like Gordon Hayward seemed snake-bitten with untimely injuries (broken hand, sore foot) that were a result of bad luck more than anything else. Others like Enes Kanter and Robert Williams hadn't fully recovered from injuries either.

Now, however, the Celtics are set to head into the Orlando bubble with a full complement of healthy, rested players, assuming every player of the roster notifies the C’s that their intent is to play (NBA deadline is June 22nd).

There was plenty of pressure on Danny Ainge and the Celtics front office at the trade deadline to boost their bench depth and put themselves in a stronger position to win in the present by adding a bench piece. However, the way the current season is projected to finish out makes the decision to stand pat this season look beneficial in hindsight. Let's take a closer look at why:

1. Shortened season

With the regular season trimmed by at least 10 games (depending on the team), there is only a limited impact that acquired players would have made in the standings following the trade deadline on February 5th. A second training camp next month in Orlando will help midseason acquisitions get better acclimated with their teams but giving up any kind of value for a shorter timeframe that this season became, looks like a bad bet. There is no guarantee that the season even reaches a conclusion if there ends up being an outbreak inside of the Orlando bubble as well that brings the year to a halt. That’s not a great feeling for any general manager that gave up a future draft pick or young player for a win-now piece this deadline.

2. Limited spending flexibility in offseason

Many of the C’s rumored trade targets at the trade deadline (Davis Bertans, Christian Wood) were set to become unrestricted free agents this summer. The Celtics already have over $130 million committed in salary next year, assuming the likes of Hayward and Kanter opt into their deals in an uncertain free agency climate with limited cap room around the league. Given the expected reduction of the NBA’s salary cap number for next season due to revenue losses, the Celtics would not be in a good position to retain any pricy free agent without shedding salary elsewhere. That would be a waste of Bird Rights acquired by Boston on any player they had added to the mix and make any asset that was given up for an expiring deal tougher to swallow. The Celtics are among the top-10 teams with salary committed already for the 20-21 season so they may need to do some salary cutting already based on how the league structures the cap and luxury tax rules next season in the wake of declined revenue. If it’s a sharp drop, it could be a tight squeeze for the C’s financial even with the current payroll. Keeping a mid-level free agent may simply not be doable in this climate beyond the current core.

3. Limited use for trade additions in the postseason: Outside of a few high priced players (D’Angelo Russell, Clint Capela, Robert Covington), it was a quiet trade deadline around the league for the most part. The Celtics are going to be leaning heavily on their starting five plus Marcus Smart for the vast majority of their minutes once the postseason arrives and that leaves limited windows for role players to make an impact. Given the emphasis that Brad Stevens puts on defensive awareness/ability in his rotation, it’s hard to see guys like Bertans or Wood being able to be counted on in certain matchups with top-tier East teams if they had been added at the deadline. Stevens would likely be hesitant to take away offensive opportunities for his core when everyone is healthy, and bringing in a high volume shooter would have been a danger from a chemistry standpoint.

This group has already shown they are capable of beating anyone in the league on any given night and there is hope now they will have a chance to do it again while healthy. As an added bonus, Ainge doesn’t have to fret about giving up that extra first-round pick for someone who is mostly sitting on the bench. Instead, he can use it to help build for the future and plan for what should be a very challenging offseason for the C’s and other teams across the league amid likely changes to the salary cap and CBA.

Key offseason dates set

A rough outline of the offseason had already been set but the NBA has begun finalizing critical dates for the NBA offseason this weekend, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. A few key ones to keep in mind:

NBA Draft: Friday, October 16th: This will come less than a week after the last possible end date for the NBA Finals matchup in Orlando. It’s worth noting that the NBA pushed the date back to a Friday night (drafts are traditionally on Thursdays in June) to avoid going head-to-head with a Ravens-Chiefs Thursday night football matchup. That should be a wise move when it comes to TV ratings. The early entry deadline will be moved to August 17th. It remains unclear according to a league source whether there will be an NBA Draft Combine held prior to the draft.

NBA Free Agency: Sunday, October 18th: Just like last year, the NBA will kick off free agency on a Sunday evening, with things beginning around 6 p.m. ET. There will be a moratorium period on deals from Oct 19-23 while the NBA finalizes their finances for the year but agreements can be verbally reached as soon as Sunday night. The landscape should be far different this time around compared to last year when a flurry of free agents came to terms within minutes of free agency kicking off. With a far less impressive class expected this summer, combined with the uncertainty surrounding the financial future in the league, it should be a process that drags out for weeks with some guys amid a shortened offseason. There is no set agreement yet between the NBA and players association about a start date for the 2020-21 season but the league announced they were shooting for an early December start earlier this month.

Other NBA News and Notes

—Important note about a potential playoff opponent for the Celtics was revealed Saturday as Victor Oladipo told ESPN that he will wait to make a decision about playing in Orlando until he further tests his surgically repaired quad tendon. The Pacers are currently the No. 5 seed in the East and Oladipo had played more than a month since undergoing a year-long rehab from the initial injury in January 2019. With just one year left on his current deal ($21 million) it makes plenty of sense for an All-Star like Oladipo to be extra cautious on this front after a lengthy down period following a serious injury. Another setback with it could cost him tens of millions in his next deal. The Celtics will surely be watching his decision closely as Indiana looks like a far more appealing first-round opponent without Oladipo in the fold.

—Anthony Tolliver and Joakim Noah are expected to re-sign with the Grizzlies and Clippers respectively once the NBA transaction window opens up on June 23. For one week, all teams will be able to sign players for the rest of the season, sign two-way deals and sign substitute players on teams when players opt not to report to Orlando.

—The Rockets are reportedly eyeing free-agent guard Tyler Johnson to sign, according to the Houston Chronicle. Johnson was waived by the Suns earlier this season. Houston will need to open up a roster spot for him to add him to the mix.

—The Pistons made a wise GM hire this week, bringing aboard Troy Weaver in their revamped front office. Weaver was Sam Presti’s right-hand man for years in OKC, serving a pivotal role in plucking top tier talent like Russell Westbrook out of the lottery for the Thunder. He has plenty of work ahead of him in Detroit to rebuilding a Pistons franchise with no true building blocks beyond an overpaid Blake Griffin.