Rockets' Morey Tops Celtics' Ainge for Executive of the Year

Danny Ainge pulled off the firework offseason that the Boston Celtics had promised fans for years in the summer of 2017. A decade after acquiring future Hall of Famers Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in separate trades, Ainge landed perennial All-Star Kyrie Irving in a blockbuster deal with the rival Cleveland Cavaliers and signed All-Star Gordon Hayward to the most lucrative contract in franchise history.

Not only did Ainge acquire Irving and Hayward, he also fleeced the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal that netted Jayson Tatum and a future first-round pick. Tatum is expected to finish third in Rookie of the Year voting, while the 76ers traded up for the top pick with Boston to select Markelle Fultz, who had a disastrous first season in the league and even forgot how to shoot.

Danny Ainge acquired two All-Stars this offseason. (Elise Amendola/AP Photo)

Boston's offseason changes also included the free agent signings of big men Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis, in addition to the initially-scrutinized trade with the Detroit Pistons that swapped Avery Bradley for Marcus Morris. It was arguably an A+ summer for Ainge—yet his offseason excellence shouldn’t earn him the Executive of the Year award. Instead that honor should go to Daryl Morey, the Houston Rockets general manager.

It’s an unfair reality that Hayward only played one game for the Celtics. A freak injury suffered to his leg on opening night sidelined him for the entire season and robbed him of the chance to contribute for the Celtics. Unlike Hayward, Morey’s prized offseason addition, Chris Paul, made a splash in his first season in Houston and helped lead the Rockets to the best record in the NBA.

Morey brought Paul to Houston in a stunning trade with the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul and MVP favorite James Harden, who Morey landed in a trade in the 2012 offseason, formed a dynamic duo that spearheaded the best regular season mark (65-17) in franchise history.

Harden—the league’s leader in scoring and player efficiency rating (PER)—and Paul are easily the best backcourt court in basketball. They average a combined 49.0 points and 16.7 assists per contest. Paul has posted a 55% effective field goal percentage, while Harden owns a 54.1% mark.

Paul was just one of the widely successful offseason moves Morey made. The bench was bolstered through the signings of defensive stalwarts P.J. Tucker and Luc Mbah a Moute. Tucker and Mbah a Moute have built the Rockets into a top-eight defense. Tucker and Mbah a Moute allow the Rockets to hide guys like Harden and Eric Gordon on the defensive end, both of whom have struggled  in times on that side of the ball.

Daryl Morey has built the Rockets into a championship contender. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)

In rare occasions, the Rockets have used Mbah a Moute and Tucker at the 5 and 4, respectively. When doing so, Houston has outpaced opponents by 38.4 points per 100 possessions, according to Cleaning The Glass. This could be a lineup utilized for stretches when the Rockets inevitably play the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals. The Rockets will counter the Warriors’ “death lineup”—which features Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Draymond Green—with the length of Mbah a Moute and Tucker, rotating in-and-out starting small forward Trevor Ariza.

Morey managed to augment the bench during the season, too. He inked free agent guard/forward Gerald Green to a 1-year, veteran minimum deal in late December. The 32-year-old Green emerged as a reliable scorer off the bench, producing per game averages of 12.1 points over 22.7 minutes.

New additions galore, the Rockets cruised through the regular season. They were the only team to win 60+ games and clinched home court advantage throughout the playoffs two weeks before the season had even ended. The Rockets dominated the regular season because of the shrewd moves by Morey, who should be recognized as the 2017-18 Executive of the Year.

Bradley-For-Morris Trade Gives Celtics Another Defender vs. LeBron, Paves Way for Jaylen Brown to Start

                In order to make room for Gordon Hayward and his reported 4-year, $128 million max contract, the Boston Celtics opted to part ways with shooting guard Avery Bradley. The Celtics traded Bradley, one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, and a 2019 second-round pick to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for forward Marcus Morris.

                Before President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge and his team sent Bradley to Detroit, Boston reportedly shopped Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder in trade talks. When the 2017-18 season concludes, Smart will be a free agent—albeit a restricted one—like Bradley (unrestricted), but the popular opinion held that Crowder was the most likely to be moved because he plays small forward, the same position as the newly-signed All-Star forward Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, the No. 3 overall pick from June’s NBA Draft. That logic was flawed in many aspects. As evidenced by the 2017 Finals, the NBA is becoming a positionless league—a sentiment echoed by Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.

                “I don’t have the five positions anymore,” Stevens said. “It may be as simple as three positions now, where you’re either a ball-handler, a wing or a big.”

                By Stevens’ definition, Crowder is a wing—one who is fully capable of starting alongside Hayward. Crowder’s contract—which pays him $6.7 million this season, $7.3 million in 2018-19 and $7.8 million in 2019-20—is one of the best in the league and makes him an asset worth holding onto. Furthermore, the 6’9” 27-year-old remains Boston’s top defensive option against Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James.

                The Celtics realistically had no shot of re-signing Bradley in the summer of 2018. They just inked Hayward to a massive deal—a summer after signing Al Horford to a monster contract—and still need to pay Isaiah Thomas, a free agent in 2018 who averaged 28.9 points per game last season and finished 5^th in MVP voting. Teams, including the Pistons, will likely offer Bradley a lucrative, long-term deal, perhaps in the $25 million (annual) range, a contract the Celtics will not be able to match.

                Even if the Celtics could fit Bradley in the team’s cap, it’d be senseless to throw massive amount of money at the guard who has sit his ceiling as a player. Not when his understudy Smart, 23 and three years younger than Bradley, can do many of the same things defensively and is still evolving on offense. Smart took a big leap this past season, elevating his scoring and ball distribution on offense, while also improving his off-ball guarding and one-on-one defense.

                Assuming Crowder starts next to Hayward and Horford in the frontcourt and Smart continues to be the first guy off the bench for the Celtics, Jaylen Brown is set to become a permanent member of Boston’s starting-five. Brown played much better as a starter, averaging 9.5 points in 20 starts and reaching double-figures in scoring 10 times. Brown, who saw in uptick in minutes as the season wound down and even managed to be a part of the Celtics’ playoff rotation, has as much upside as any player from the 2016 NBA Draft Class. And while the Summer League is hardly a preview of things to come, it’s impossible to ignore Brown’s dominance in the exhibition contests in Salt Lake City. In the summer league games in Utah, Brown averaged 17.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

Jaylen Brown looks to build upon a strong rookie season. (Winslow Townson/AP)

               Brown’s insertion into the starting unit also opens up more playing time at the wing positions to rookie Jayson Tatum and the newly-acquired Marcus Morris, a tweener forward who last season averaged 14 points and 4.6 rebounds per game on 42 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent from three-point territory.           

                The 6’9” Morris is not nearly the player Bradley is, but he provides the Celtics with two things the often-injured Bradley did not: elite durability and a lengthy defender to guard LeBron. Morris has played in 77 or more games in each of the past five seasons and no player guarded LeBron more effectively than Morris in the 2015-16 regular season.

One under the radar positive about Marcus Morris? Durability. Here's his games played totals over last 5 seasons:
77
82
81
80
79

— Brian Robb (@CelticsHub) July 7, 2017

            According to ESPN.com’s Tom Haberstroh, James averaged just 20.5 points per 100 possessions when defended by Morris that season—much lower than his 36.5 points per 100 possessions average on the season.

LeBron James has words with Marcus Morris, then a member of the Pistons. (USA Today Sports/Tim Fuller)

                In this past regular season, Morris ranked 66^th among all players in defensive win shares. The only two Celtics players that ranked ahead of Morris?—the aforementioned Crowder and Smart.

                While it may be tough for the Celtics to wave goodbye to Bradley, who became a solid role player under former head coach Doc Rivers before ultimately becoming a First-Team All-Defense member (2015-16) and reliable offensive player (16.3 points per game in 2016-17) under Stevens, he was the odd man out after a trade became inevitable following the Hayward signing.

                        The Celtics were never going to get equal value for Bradley—not when it became obvious they were looking to deal the guard before he hit free agency—but acquiring another guy for Stevens to throw at LeBron on defense is hardly a major loss. And while Bradley’s tough-nosed defense and underrated shot-making ability will be certainly missed, especially as the Celtics’ newcomers take time to jell with their teammates, his departure opens the door for Brown to potentially become a star, something Bradley will never be.

Paul Pierce, Boston Fans Gear Up For Emotional Super Sunday

                This year’s Super Bowl Sunday embodies the riveting experience of a Boston sports fan.

            Before New England Patriots QB Tom Brady bids for his fifth Super Bowl ring, Boston Celtics legend and current Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul Pierce will play his last game at TD Garden. Tip-off is at 2 p.m., just hours in advance of Super Bowl LI between the Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons.

Paul Pierce, former Celtics superstar, will square off against current Boston superstar Isaiah Thomas. (Brian Babineau/Getty Images)

                Boston fans must plan accordingly for what will be a day of elevated emotion as they give “The Truth” a final salute before he retires this summer—and then immediately gear up for the Patriots’ quest for #OneMore victory to secure the franchise’s fifth Lombardi trophy.

                Just like the fervent Boston fans, Pierce too, must prepare for a full Sunday of sports euphoria. The former NBA Finals MVP who holds Celtics franchise records in three-pointers, free throws and steals and ranks second in team history for scoring (24,021 points, to be exact) is an unabashed die-hard Patriots fan (just glance at his Twitter and Facebook accounts to understand the scope of his fanhood). The 39-year-old became a Boston sports icon alongside Brady in the 2000’s and hopes to see the four-time Super Bowl champion add another ring to his collection on Sunday.

Matt Ryan vs the 🐐 😂😂😂pats baby let's get this

— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) January 23, 2017

                Pierce, a first-ballot Hall of Famer who played the first 15 seasons of his career with the Celtics, has demonstrated his support for the Patriots throughout the playoffs—as he has done for over a decade now—despite last being a part of the Boston sports scene in 2013 when the Celtics traded him to the Brooklyn Nets in a blockbuster deal.

Hey Mortamier we're Back pic.twitter.com/6B4PHg1N4Y

— Paul Pierce (@paulpierce34) January 23, 2017

                Pulling for a fellow Boston championship MVP, Pierce holds firm in his belief that Brady is the G.O.A.T. of NFL QB's. Just ask Danny Ainge, the Celtics president of basketball operations, who spoke on Thursday in his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich,” and revealed Pierce regularly (and adamantly) argues in support of Brady's illustrious legacy.

                “If you ever wanted to throw Paul off his game in practice or just get him in a heated argument, all you had to do was say, ‘I think Peyton Manning is better than Tom Brady,’ and he would just go off and want to fight,” Ainge said.

                Ainge hinted that the Celtics plan to give Pierce a well-deserved video tribute—just as they did in his first game as an opposing player:

                Pierce garners respect from the Celtics Greats and some of the team’s well-known media personalities, including Mike Gorman. The Celtics play-by-play announcer for CSN New England, Gorman called Pierce his “favorite Celtic ever,” while color commentator and former Celtics player and head coach Tommy Heinsohn labeled Pierce the “best pure scorer in Celtics history.”

Pierce cemented his status as a Celtics legend. (Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images)

                The undisputed greatest player in the short history of TD Garden—which opened in 1995—Pierce must say goodbye to the arena where he produced countless memories for Celtics fans. While the original New York Yankees Stadium is “The House (Babe) Ruth Built,” TD Garden should always be known as “The House Truth Built.”

                After Pierce is finished playing in his final game on the parquet floor, he must quickly redirect his focus to the Patriots.

              “Pierce is the biggest Tom Brady fan and Patriots fan in the world," Ainge said, "so I know that he’ll have other things on his mind in his last game at the Garden, that’s for sure.”

                Boston fans can relate with The Truth in that regard.

Can the Celtics Lure LaMarcus Aldridge to Boston?

            The Boston Celtics have the cap space necessary to offer a top-tier free agent a maximum contract this offseason. Not typically big players in the free agent market, General Manager Danny Ainge is willing to improve his team in any means possible —including dishing out a lucrative contract to a star this summer.

            "We haven't ever had cap space, I don’t think, in the history of the Celtics," Ainge jokingly said. "For sure since I've been here. So we need to use that space wisely. We can't just spend it just because we have it."

            The Celtics certainly have the cash (roughly $33.2 million in spending money) to land a star. But will a player be interested in hopping on board Ainge’s rebuilding train—albeit one that is soaring much faster than anyone could have imagined—to become the centerpiece of the 17-time NBA Champion Celtics?

            There is a widespread myth that free agents do not want to come to Boston. While the Celtics have never inked an elite player through free agency, how many stars have the Celtics actually heavily chased on the open market? The franchise has consistently looked towards trades that better the team in the short and long-term, along with mindful picks in the draft, to reload their squad. However, this year’s free agency presents the Celtics with a new opportunity to dispel the notion that players are uninterested in signing a contract to play on the famous parquet floor. With the Portland Trailblazers’ LaMarcus Aldridge set to hit the open market, the time is now for the Celtics to rail in their ideal star in free agency.

            Aldridge is likely the player the Celtics chase the hardest this summer. The dynamic 6-foot-10-inch forward/center has a polished post game with a superb ability to finish around the basket. Aldridge—who posted 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest with a 22.85 player efficiency rating in 2014-15—also owns a commendable mid-range game that fits well into Boston’s offense, which relies upon strong shooting from its big men.

The Celtics could make a big push to sign free-agent-to-be LaMarcus Aldridge. (Craig Mitchelldyer-USA Today Sports)

            It’s easy to sell Aldridge to Boston’s management and its fans—but what do the Celtics offer to the four-time All-Star?

            First and foremost, the Celtics provide Aldridge the chance to be the cornerstone of the most successful franchise in league history. Aldridge, reportedly unhappy with the media’s newfound obsession with Damian Lillard, can defect to Boston and instantly become ‘The Man’ for the Green and White.

            The extraordinarily weak Eastern Conference is something Aldridge can’t ignore. The only current realistic title contender is the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The Atlanta Hawks, Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls are all a player (or two) away from being bulletproof threats to win the championship. If Alrdidge stays in the West—either to remain in Portland or to jump ship to the Dallas Mavericks, the purported favorites to land the free-agent-to-be—he will have to deal with the Golden State Warriors, the San Antonio Spurs (another serious contender for the All-Star’s services), the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies in the immediate future. 

            Does Portland even stand a chance against any of the aforementioned teams come playoff time? What about the Mavs?—currently led by an aging Dirk Nowitzki—who got smacked by the Rockets in the first-round of the postseason? Good luck going deep into the playoffs in either Portland or Dallas.

           Aldridge has reached the second round (2014) just once in his career and his team was promptly swept by the eventual-champion Spurs.

            If Aldridge flocks to Boston, he could find himself in the Conference Finals as early as next season. The Celtics are an up-and-coming team with a young core of guards (Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas and James Young) and a treasure cove of draft picks over the next couple of years. Boston can offer Aldirdge a four-year, $80 million contract. Sign with the Celtics and he’s assured a playoff spot for the extent of his deal. Join Boston, the ‘city of champions’, and he immediately becomes the top power forward in the conference.

            Aldridge said last summer his goal was to be the greatest Trail Blazer of all-time. He was steadfast in his desire to leave a legacy in the City. Now frustrated with the direction of the franchise and no longer enamored with painting his mark in Portland, why not follow the footsteps in the long list of Celtics legends? Aldridge wants to be revered. He wants to be the talk of a city. Playing in Boston gives him the best chance to do that. Watch the tribute videos the Celtics made for Kevin Garnett and for Paul Pierce and witness yourself how the city honors its basketball heroes.

            Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, John Havlicek, Dave Cowens, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish—to name a few Celtic legends—have their numbers retired in the rafters and all of them remain treasured by the city. Garnett and Pierce will soon see their numbers raised as well. Aldridge has the opportunity to join Boston’s decorated history. Question remains, is Aldridge intrigued by the chance to join a pool of basketball legends?