After making a trip to the NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics should have no trouble convincing free agents to give them some consideration this summer.
Still, in a recent chat with the media, young guard Marcus Smart made his pitch anyway and explained why he is hopeful that his team will become a more lucrative destination for players this offseason.
“I think over the years we got a bad rep in Boston for free agents, for older vets wanting to come,” Smart told reporters Tuesday at his Young Game Changers basketball clinic, via The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “I think this year really opened a lot of people’s eyes and showed what we can do, how this team is. We’re a team. It’s all one. I think that opened a lot of people’s eyes to maybe give it a shot in Boston.”
Smart did not reveal the names of any specific targets, but he expressed faith in Brad Stevens and said he would be happy to help recruit players to the team.
“I think, for us, we have a lot of power,” Smart said. “It’s just finding the balance. It’s kind of hard to tell you what we need when we just made the Finals. Now, obviously, we might need something. At this moment, I couldn’t tell you what that is. I’m sure Brad and his staff will do a good job of finding what we need and trying to get it. If not, then try to do everything we can with what we have.”
To come so far and fall short in the end must be a brutal reality for Boston. That might have been their best chance to win a title for the next decade. There’s no way to know that right now.
But no matter what happens, or who wins these next few Larry O’Brien’s, you can bet on the Celtics to be in the mix for the foreseeable future. With brilliant leadership from the top down and an impressive collection of young talent at their disposal, something says that the best is yet to come for the boys in green.
