The Boston Celtics did not make any transactions at the recent NBA trade deadline. Danny Ainge, the team’s president of basketball operations,  said ‘no good deals’ were available during the course of talks with many teams. Rumors had started to grow about the Celtics acquiring big names like Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford or Houston Rockets center Dwight Howard. Both would be risky picks: Horford is a free agent after this season so if the Celtics were to go for him, he might not even play for the team next year, and Howard’s ego can be bigger than his game.

The Celtics have seven first round picks over the next three NBA drafts, which is unbelievable. In 2016 the Celtics have their pick, Brooklyn’s pick and Dallas’s pick. In the 2017 NBA draft, the Celtics have the right to swap with Brooklyn and trade places. Then in 2018, they’ll have their own first round pick as well as Brooklyn’s and Memphis’. As competitive as the Celtics have been in the league this year, they can look forward to a bright future, having lined up so many top picks. It’s a fan’s dream to have a bright future as well as a winning season now.  Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers lose all the time and have good draft picks but it will take years for them to become competitive. Then there are teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers, who trade their picks and sign big name free agents for big money in order to win now. The bad side of that strategy is that it’s all about the here and the now. The future is non existent for teams like that. It’s a tough thing to balance but no one is doing it better then the Boston Celtics are doing it right now.

Names like Pau Gasol, Kevin Love and Blake Griffin were also rumored to possibly land in Boston via trade but those are such high-profile players that it would take even more than their value to acquire them and Danny Ainge is not one to overspend on a player. Undoubtedly, the Celtics will trade some of their first-round draft picks to acquire a superstar talent as having a top ten player is the only way to legitimately compete for a championship in the NBA. This year, hopefully the Celtics can make a deep playoff run and get their group of young players post-season experience because they most definitely will be back in the NBA playoffs for years to come.