Boston Celtics: 5 reasons to go all in on Kawhi Leonard
By Bret Stuter
3. Win now mode
The Boston Celtics are close enough to abandon saving something for the future and chasing the dream of another NBA championship now. The number of opportunities to compete for the NBA title is fewer than many admit. Of course, this assumes you are not one of 15 players wearing a Golden State Warriors jersey.
Right now, the Celtics must take advantage of any opportunity to better themselves for the 2018-19 season. There are no mulligans. So that means any opportunity to improve the overall talent for the team must be explored. If that opportunity does indeed have a positive return, then it is important to go all in to make that trade.
Free agent center Aron Baynes has agreed to a two-year, $11M deal to return to the Boston Celtics, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 1, 2018
The Celtics have a window, right now. With the re-signing of Aron Baynes, the team is only at risk of losing Marcus Smart to another team this offseason. And with no clear upgrade player available to the team, look for Smart to re-sign as well.
All contracts should hold the core of the Celtics together through 2020. While that seems far distant in the future, that is just two NBA seasons to win it all. There is no room for error in the building of a winning team.
Golden State just upgraded with the signing of center DeMarcus Cousins. Now, Boston must take a perspective of not aiming to win the conference, but beat the ever-improving Warriors. To do so, they need Kawhi Leonard.