David Aldridge ranks Celtics offseason 11th-best out of 30 NBA teams

Both of these guys are Celtics now, but will they still be around in 2016-17?                     Photo via Wikimedia.

More from the "only news because it's August" department, NBA.com's David Aldridge recently wrote a column ranking the offseasons of all 30 NBA franchises.  Your Boston Celtics check in at No. 11.

Aldridge calls assistant general manager Mike Zarren "the key man," citing his role in the "myriad" of future draft picks Danny Ainge has amassed.  As far as analysis of the offseason, Aldridge writes:

Ainge stuck to the script for a couple of years of trying to build through the Draft, but after not getting high enough in the first round to get impact players, he sped up the process, turning over half of the roster -- starting with signing [Amir] Johnson from Toronto and getting [David] Lee from the NBA champs. Lee insists he's more than cool with the move, which will at least get him out of dry dock. Both he and Johnson should help the Celtics' frontcourt, which will help coach Brad Stevens, who got Boston to play outstanding team defense the second half of last season. But Boston is extremely guard heavy, currently needing to split time between Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, James Young and the team's two first-rounders. Still need to see if taking Rozier higher than just about any other team had him rated will work out, but Mickey shows signs of being a second-round steal.

In my mind, Aldridge omitted the most important part of the C's summer--the great contracts.  Jae Crowder is a steal at five years and $35 million.  Even more impressive are the team options in 2016-17 for Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko, which give Boston the opportunity to cut $17 million in payroll if it chooses to pursue a pair of max free agents next year.

The Celtics have only $25.5 million in guaranteed payroll on the books for 2016-17.  Their offseason success lies in the fact that they managed to add players and improve, while still keeping open all their options for the future.



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