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Off-season of uncertainty

The Boston Celtics, since we last heard from them, were making some pre-draft deals for Tyreke Evans, Jarrett Jack, Andre Roberson and some other bits and pieces. Fast forward a few weeks post-draft, and the Celtics are in a precarious position. There best two players from the 2016 NLL Finals were Kevin Durant and Al Horford. Their two free agents this off-season... yep, Kevin Durant and Al Horford.

Both players are unrestricted free agents for the first time in their careers. If you pay attention to the media whirlwind, you may read that both players would prefer to play at other teams from 2017 on and beyond.

'This is totally untrue', said GM JMAC.

'Kevin and Al have both expressed their desires to receive the maximum amount of money on their deal, but neither have expressed their feelings and intentions to the tune of those words. They are required players here, in Boston. If they need to be paid, we will well and truly pay them. We appreciate everything they have done for this franchise and everything they will do in the future.'

The off-season is laden with these kinds of reports. Reports of players going here, players signing there, crazy trades that are '95%' done. You have to take everything with a grain of salt. However, there are some really big rumours circling around that have taken flight from the mouths of some very, very credible sources.

'Boston can't afford to keep both Durant and Horford'

This is not true. Boston has 99 gm points and has an outstanding recent history of playing winning basketball. This means something to competitive, all-star type players. They are in a position to bring both stars back.

'Boston don't have a vision, or culture, that develops for the future'

Yes, it is very well known that Boston tends to cash in on draft picks for living, breathing talent in the now, that can help them win in this moment, but this isn't true. I've been told they have been in discussions to acquire another first round pick for the coming years, to go along with the 2017 Nets first and the 2018 firsts of the Pistons and the Blazers. They aren't against rookies, they just like being competitive as they can be.

'In the wake of losing in the Finals, Boston wrongly made hasty trades'

This one is harder to answer and is more of a hypothetical question to answer in the future. Boston clearly had some fantastic chemistry going in 15-16 and for good reasons, they made a flurry of trades pre-draft. Were the reasons good enough? Were the returns good enough? Time will tell with this one.

'Al Horford is going to be re-signed and traded'

There have been rumblings out of a few different organisations that there have been discussions around acquiring Al Horford, most recent being the Phoenix Suns in exchange for Josh Smith and some kind of combination of assets. Well, that's not going to get it done. Al Horford is an All-Star big man, in the prime of his career with possibly the most well rounded game of any big man not named Anthony Davis. He would make any team instantly better, but as far as we know, he is a wanted man in Boston. However, I guess any player is technically available, if the price is too good to refuse.

-ESPN Boston

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