Felger & Mazz Video: Underwhelming Summer For Celtics -- So Far
BOSTON (CBS) -- NBA free agency is in a bit of a standstill as Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Bosh contemplate where they want to play basketball for the foreseeable future.
The Boston Celtics hinted -- not promised -- there could be fireworks this off-season as they try to rebuild the franchise to relevancy, but all they have to show so far is four more years of Avery Bradley at $32 million.
There have been plenty of rumors, from the Celtics making calls to free agents Gordon Hayward, Chandler Parsons and (depending on who you listen to) Lance Stephenson. A potential Kevin Love trade also resurfaced over the weekend, with Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that Danny Ainge is still making calls to Flip Saunders about his All Star power forward. The Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett reported Tuesday that the Celtics are still looking for a blockbuster that will speed up the rebuilding process, with Ainge trying to gather as many chips as he can in order to swing a deal.
But so far, the only fireworks we've seen have been for the Fourth of July, and most of those were rained out anyways. So you can see why Marc "The Beetle" Bertrand is a little underwhelmed by the Celtics this summer. In fact, he gave them a strong "F" as an off-season grade thus far.
"I just feel like at this point there is not a lot of direction. I'm uneasy with this, because fireworks happen around the Fourth of July, and we haven't seen any from the Celtics," said Bertrand. "I feel this is all hinging on a Kevin Love trade, and if it doesn't happen what are they left with?... I'm not giving them credit until they do something."
Michael Felger is being a little more patient with Ainge and the Celtics, and hopes they can still land Love at some point.
"They have not failed to land Kevin Love yet. All these things they've done I haven't liked on the face of it, but maybe it's a means to another end," he said. "If Kevin Love is still alive, I think there is some rhythm to the reason of what they've been doing."
"The Love thing is not over with. Once Bosh decides where he is going to go, someone is going to miss out on Melo or Bosh," said Rich Keefe. "Houston or Chicago will miss out on one of these guys, and then will make a hard push for Love. That will get the talks going again for Minnesota, and if Boston can outbid one of those teams, then it can become a reality."
Bertrand adds that at that point, the Celtics will have competition for Love.
"They are, but if you want young players and draft picks they have a better package than anybody else," said Keefe.
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