What if the Celtics just drafted Markelle Fultz and kept Isaiah Thomas?

https://www.celticsblog.com/2017/10/22/16451116/what-if-the-boston-celtics-just-drafted-markelle-fultz-and-kept-isaiah-thomas




What if the Celtics just drafted Markelle Fultz and kept Isaiah Thomas?

Would the easier path been the better one?

by [size=13][url=https://www.sbnation.com/users/Jeff Clark]Jeff Clark[/url]@celticsblog  Oct 22, 2017, 8:57pm EDT



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[size=13]Photo by Elsa/Getty Images[/size]






The Celtics entered the offseason with a lot of different options but few could have foreseen the choices that they ended up making.


Boston was coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals and equipped with the top overall pick. It was obvious that they were still a level below the Cavs and Warriors so they were determined to raise the talent level on the team.


Usually the most straightforward path makes the most sense. Danny Ainge could have simply added Gordon Hayward, picked Markelle Fultz, and worked around the edges to fill out the roster and everyone would have called the offseason a rousing success. Questions about Isaiah Thomas and his contract situation could have been dealt with next offseason.


“What if” questions are always dicey. Anyone familiar with the Butterfly Effect understands that any decision along the way could have ripple effect changes to every decision that followed. If the Celtics pick Fultz, does Irving encourage the Celtics to make a trade for him later in the summer?


I suppose if you really want to go down a rabbit hole, you could wonder if Hayward would have gotten injured if Isaiah was tossing him that alley-oop. At some point these things border on the ridiculous and ultimately none of it really matters as it is all make believe.


Still, I think there’s value in considering the unchosen alternatives when evaluating the front office’s decisions. The Celtics took the road less travelled, but was it worth the trip?


To me it all centers around two major decisions. Trading the #1 pick and trading Isaiah Thomas (and other pieces) for Kyrie Irving. Gordon Hayward was the plan all along so I’m putting that aside as a constant (I’m going to leave out the injury in this analysis, which was a freak accident).


Markelle Fultz was widely considered the top overall talent in the draft. He’s had some early bumps in the road thus far, but it is way too soon to make any relevant determinations on his career trajectory and point guards are prone for longer take-offs than most. Would Thomas’ tutelage have put him in a better position to succeed?

Isaiah Thomas had a better season that Kyrie Irving last year. He was due for a payday but he’s far from old and as long as he comes back from his injury without any long term damage, there’s reason to believe he’ll keep performing at an All Star level. We wouldn’t have had him for the first half of the year and the Gordon Hayward injury would have been doubly hard to take. Still, in a weak East they could have still tread water for a few months and still make the playoffs finishing with a similar core to what they had last year. Note that they’d also still have Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the Nets pick.


So the lineup in October might look like this. Smart, Brown, Crowder, Horford, and Baynes. Fultz could come in off the bench along with Marcus Morris, Zizic, and the rest of the young guys. They would add Thomas whenever he’s ready (mid season?) and next year they’d add Hayward and the Nets pick. Or they could have used that Nets pick in another trade.


The team wouldn’t have had Kyrie Irving’s upside, but they also wouldn’t have had to painfully part ways with a National treasure like Isaiah Thomas. They’d have Fultz and the Nets pick instead of Tatum and the Lakers pick.


Personally, I think the Celtics would have been perfectly fine with that outcome. But being pragmatic, they left themselves open to other opportunities. The Sixers really wanted that top overall pick. It seems that the Celtics were looking at Tatum all along and were happy to make the swap and pick up an extra pick in the process. Then they were open to the idea of moving Thomas and other pieces for Kyrie Irving in order to align their timelines better.


Did they make the right choices? Will this version of the Celtics be better than the one that could have been? We’ll never know.



bob
MY NOTE:  Jeff Clark is, usually, a fairly well-founded writer.  This, however, is complete nonsense.  He talks about being ok with Fultz coming off the bench but somehow neglects to mention Jayson Tatum, the player we took instead of Fultz.  Who has been playing better, so far through a few games?  I'd take Tatum, hands-down.  I realize it's too soon to write that opinion in stone but to completely neglect who we got instead and that they are doing quite well despite being thrown into the fire as a starter and NOT off the bench like Fultz is, and like Clark is saying he'd do with us, is a fairly large blind spot in his analysis. 

And I have NO idea how he plans to add Hayward "next year".  He was available as a free agent THIS year.  He was either staying in Utah on a long-term contract, going to Miami on a long-term contract or he was coming here on a long-term contract THIS summer.

And next year, when IT AND Bradley were coming up for new contracts what would he do then?  Even if Hayward somehow, miraculously, was available next summer how would he sign him and IT and Bradley?  


Furthermore, I believe a starting back court of Smart and Brown would be very offensively-challenged.  Yes, I am very aware of how well Jaylen is doing on offense now but Smart isn't.


Really quite amazing, this piece from Jeff Clark.  It's something I would have expected from one of those eager but foolish interns we see filling in for the pros over the summer break, all full of excitement and joy of just being able to call themselves "a blogger", like a dog pack of 6-month old Great Danes sweeping coffee tables clean with their tails, but not from someone who is the founder and CEO of Celticsblog.


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In my opinion, this was a slam dunk very good trade for Boston.
After the NBA draft lottery, I was one of the few people here who spoke out against Fultz.
I was never impressed with his casual approach to the game and his lack of fire on the court.
I never thought Fultz was going to be a generational point guard like some believed.
I would rather have Tatum over Fultz.
Add in a lottery pick from LA, SAC or Philly and this was a very good trade for Boston.

It was probably a hard decision for Danny to pass on Fultz since I believe Danny had no intention of backing up the Brinks truck for IT.

Right now, I feel really good about the Fultz for Tatum and future 1st trade.