Photo Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Did Danny Ainge Screw Over Aron Baynes?
After the 2017-2018 NBA season, everyone thought that the Boston Celtic will develop into a serious contender for years to come.
These young Celtics had been one of the biggest success stories of that season.
A young team that lost both their All Stars, Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, who both underwent season-ending surgeries, made the Conference Finals. Boston’s young core (Tatum, Brown, Rozier) played brilliantly and made the fans almost forget about Irving and Hayward.
This season, with the two stars healthy and playing again, everyone expected the Celtics to be the East’s top dog and the start of them being a contender for many years. But in reality, the team was struggling all year long. Even worse for the franchise and its fans, as of now, the Celtics appear to be far from being a contender in these next few years.
The Celtics simply outplayed themselves and valued their draft picks more than acquiring another star that could have helped them in their quest to win an NBA title for he first time this decade. Now, the team’s All-Star players will likely leave. Kyrie Irving has declined his player option and is expected to join one of the teams in the Big Apple. Al Horford has also declined his player option and apparently is no longer talking to the team about a deal. He will likely be looking for a four-year deal from another team.
On top of all these unpleasant news about the Celtics, they apparently are breaking their word now as well.
Last night, Aron Baynes, who chose to remain with the Celtics, instead of testing free agency, was traded to the Phoenix Suns.
According to sources close to Baynes, he initially opted in with assurance that he would not be immediately packaged, Ainge apparently promised him, that he would only trade him to a contender.
A story in three parts. Imagine trusting Danny Ainge pic.twitter.com/SNrTT6nFGC
— Daman Rangoola (@damanr) June 21, 2019
