For the past few weeks leading up to the 2017 NBA Trade Deadline, the Boston Celtics were rumored to be looking at a big group of players. The Philadelphia 76ers had a pair of big men that reportedly interested the C’s in Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor. The New York Knicks star wingman Carmelo Anthony was loosely connected to the Celtics. Blake Griffin was a name brought up being a possible Celtics target for a while. But it was a pair of wingmen that caught the most attention and the potential acquisition in either Jimmy Butler or Paul George reportedly scared the Cleveland Cavaliers.
With the Cavs currently battling through some injuries and hoping to scoop up some help on the buyout market, the team looks as vulnerable as ever since LeBron James returned to the Cavaliers. The possibility of a Boston Celtics trade, a team with a plethora of assets, could’ve been the difference between the Cavs at the top overall seed and a potential slide down to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
With the Washington Wizards surging and the Toronto Raptors acquiring some defensive minded rotation forwards, the idea of an already successful Celtics team bringing in an All-Star wing was looming. Jimmy Butler or Paul George could have shifted the balance of power in the Eastern Conference. Apparently, it was a bullet dodged in the eyes of the Cavs.
Zach Lowe, Brian Windhorst, and Kevin Arnovitz were talking about the Celtics not trading away their assets to acquire either Jimmy Butler or Paul George at the trade deadline.
The conversation begins at about the 49:30 mark of a recent episode of the Lowe Post podcast.
Zach Lowe – “And I will say, I get Boston’s hesitation. I get it. I wrote about it yesterday. I get it. They’re trying to preserve as much of their present and future as possible, and if you don’t think you can beat LeBron (James), then you don’t hemorrhage the future to get Jimmy Butler. Isaiah Thomas, Jimmy Butler and Al Horford, that’s pretty damn good. And Jimmy Butler is about as good an answer to LeBron James as physically possible to build. And there is no answer…
Brian Windhorst – “The Cavs were on pins and needles yesterday. About the Celtics getting Paul George or Jimmy Butler. Pins and needles. That’s why I’m saying…let’s put it this way. If on day one next year it’s Gordon Hayward, Al Horford, and Isaiah Thomas, the Cavs will be like ‘ok, that’s gonna be a challenge.’ If it’s Isaiah Thomas, Al Horford, and Jimmy Butler, the Cavs might be out there saying ‘we might have to trade Kevin Love.’
ZL – ‘Oh, wow!”
