Celtics trade Aron Baynes, No. 24 overall pick to Suns for 2020 first-round pick
The Celtics have traded Aron Baynes and the No. 24 overall pick to the Suns for a 2020 first-round pick.
CLEVELAND, OH – MAY 25: Aron Baynes of the Boston Celtics warms up before Game Six of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on May 25, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Jason Miller/Getty Images
CLEVELAND, OH - MAY 25: Aron Baynes of the Boston Celtics warms up before Game Six of the 2018 NBA Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on May 25, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
By Ty Anderson, 985TheSportsHub.com
The Celtics are moving assets.
And all of Australia, too.
After acquiring the No. 24 and No. 33 pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the No. 20 overall pick (Mattise Thybulle), the Celtics have flipped the No. 24 overall pick, along with center Aron Baynes, to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for a 2020 first-round pick.
But the pick is not the Suns', unfortunately, but rather the 2020 first-round pick the Suns received from the Milwaukee Bucks as part of the Eric Bledsoe trade made in Nov. 2017, according to ESPN's Zach Lowe. Sending Milwaukee's pick to the Celtics gives Danny Ainge and Co. three picks in next year's draft, with their own, Milwaukee's, and a top-six protected Memphis pick.
The Suns (by way of the Celtics) used the No. 24 overall pick on Ty Jerome.
Baynes' inclusion in the deal is a slight deviation from what was expected earlier in the day, as it was believed that the Celtics were going to trade Baynes to a contender. That can still happen, of course, but it will have to be by way of the Suns.
By ditching Baynes, as well as moving back in the draft, the Celtics have gained close to $8 million in additional cap space.
How they spend that is anybody's guess at this point.
Ty AndersonEditor
Ty Anderson is 98.5 The Sports Hub’s friendly neighborhood straight-edge kid. Ty has been covering the Bruins (and other Boston teams) since 2010, has been a member of the PHWA since 2013, and went left to right across your radio dial and joined The Sports Hub in 2018. Ty also writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to the Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox.
