“How the Hell Was He Going to Match a $45 Million Salary?” – Boston Celtics President Believed to Be “Secretly Happy” After Jayson Tatum Fails to Secure Damian Lillard Trade

There appear to be a lot of internal disagreements going on with the Boston Celtics. As many NBA fans might be aware, the team was considered the favorites to win the Eastern Conference and make the NBA Finals last season. They were caught off guard by Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat who defeated them in a 7 game series.

For every team that didn’t win the NBA title, this offseason has been a chance to improve their roster or management. Boston has certainly been doing that and already made several acquisitions such as Kristaps Porzingis.

Nonetheless, the biggest NBA star on the lookout for a new team has been Damian Lillard. Although the Celtics might have had a chance to secure him, sources reveal that their President Brad Stevens is secretly happy that the trade didn’t go down. Since this certainly has the potential to confuse NBA fans, we should take a closer look at the situation and find out more.

Are the Boston Celtics interested in acquiring Damian Lillard?

The Blazers star’s request to join the Miami Heat has been keeping the NBA media entertained all offseason. After the NBA sent out a warning stopping players from forcing their way to a particular team, Lillard had to take a step back in terms of insisting on his request.

Moreover, this opened the door for teams that were interested in acquiring him besides the Miami Heat. Many assumed that the Celtics were seriously interested in acquiring Lillard. Especially since they traded away Marcus Smart and have no point guard at the moment. There were also reports which indicated that Jayson Tatum personally reached out to Lillard.

John Karalis of the Boston Sports Journal recently made a statement revealing that Tatum’s inability to convince Lillard made Celtics president Brad Stevens happy, “I bet Brad Stevens is secretly happy that Jayson Tatum’s recruitment of Damian Lillard didn’t work. How the hell was he going to match a $45 million salary with anything better than Miami without including Jaylen Brown?”

There is no denying that Boston would struggle to keep 3 max contract players on their roster if they acquired Lillard. The only way to do so would be to trade him for Jaylen Brown. Celtics fans know that their team will not trade away a young star and franchise cornerstone for an aging player who wants to be somewhere else.