The trade deadline came and went, and it seems many teams in the Eastern Conference have made moves to try and push past the Cavs in the playoffs. One of those teams, very surprisingly was not the Boston Celtics. Many thought Boston would make the biggest impact in the trade deadline and acquire a big name star. Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Blake Griffin highlighted the super stars it appeared Boston was targeting. However, even with high profile big men such as Demarcus Cousins and Nerlens Noel going for relatively cheap, the Celtics still did not make a push. Even if the Bulls and Pacers had a ridiculously high asking price for Butler and George it seems very questionable why Boston was not in on a big man, especially with their rebounding issues. This leaves many Boston fans wondering what Danny Ainge has in mind for the future of this team.

Every team in the top 5 in the Eastern Conference has made a move to show they are seriously ready to make a deep playoff run. Every team that is, except for the current number two seed Boston Celtics. Boston was in prime position to make a very cheap move to fix their main issue of rebounding, yet they staid put. Doing nothing seemed to be widely criticized by the Celtics fan base as it seemed obvious to anyone that they needed rebounding help.

So now the All-Star break ends and the Celtics have not done anything to show they are in serious championship mode. They are without a star player to go alongside Isaiah Thomas, and without a top-tier rebounder to counter the likes of an Andre Drummond or Jonas Valanciunas in the post-season. It seems Danny Ainge truly trusts this team to win the way it is. Or does he? The question in Boston comes down to, did Danny Ainge really truly believe this team is good enough to make a championship run? Or is he just being the greedy general manager some have made him out to be?

There are two counter arguments which make the most sense that help the case of Ainge. The first (and in my opinion the strongest) is the way Stevens coaches the team, a big man who can not spread the floor would be bad for this offense. This is completely understandable. Stevens, who loves his team to spread out the floor, creates space in the paint for Isaiah Thomas to have his best season of his career. Adding a big rebounder who stays on the block could create a crowded paint, leaving Thomas with not much to work with. A struggling Isaiah leads to a struggling Celtics team. However, this argument leaves no answer to why the Celtics did not go after Demarcus Cousins. A big man who can spread the floor from anywhere in the offensive zone seems like the perfect fit in Stevens’ system. I guess it really did come down to the Celtics finding major character issues. However, in the minds of Celtics fans, the character issues would have been worth it for the type of talent he would have brought, especially at such a low price.

This leads to the second argument of what the Celtics would have had to give up. It makes sense Danny Ainge did not unload his whole future for a Jimmy Butler or Paul Georgoe. For that I will commend him for not falling into the trap of unloading his whole system to get a big name player. I price that asks for as much as the Pacers or Bulls were offering seems way too overpriced for one singular player. However, there were other options. Nerlens Noel went for an late first rounder (or two second rounders depending on position). That seems like a low risk asking price for someone who could help the team out along the season. Even a player such as an Andrew Bogut would have been a very low risk piece. Danny did not have to go out and get a starting center in a deal, however it would have been a nice piece to counter a rebounding force such as Drummond in the playoffs.

Now with the trade deadline passed, only time will tell if standing pat was really the correct move for Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics.