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gary washburn | on basketball

With fireworks still on hold, Celtics go conservative route

Danny Ainge on draft
A quick look at the Celtics’ top draft choice Jayson Tatum: ■ The 6-foot-8-inch, 204-pound forward is from St. Louis, and was ranked the No. 3 recruit in the 2016 high school class by both ESPN and Rivals. He was also the Gatorade National Player of

NEW YORK — Those fireworks have yet to arrive in Boston, perhaps this summer during free agency. It didn’t happen on Draft Night and Celtics faithful will have to be content with Jayson Tatum and wait for that transcendent player for another day.

It wasn’t disappointing as much as surprising that president of basketball operations Danny Ainge passed on potential deals and drafted Tatum third overall. Meanwhile, former Celtics assistant coach and current Minnesota Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tom Thibodeau pulled off a trade to acquire much-coveted forward Jimmy Butler, a player the Celtics discussed for weeks.

Boston apparently didn’t want to give up its third pick this year or the Brooklyn pick it owns next year in any Butler deal. The Celtics decided to stand pat – for now – and stick with Tatum and their second-round picks.

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“I think the biggest thing is that we really value his versatility,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Tatum. “A couple years ago, I talked about how we were thin on guys that could play a number of different positions, when you talk about, really, 2-3-4. Now we’re starting to really — we’ve got a lot of position-less players that can dribble, pass, and shoot. That’s a good thing.”

It’s a conservative approach but Ainge doesn’t have to do anything right now. He was in discussions for a potential Paul George deal but those talks weren’t close. And if there is a move that would epitomize the risks Ainge is willing to take, it would be to acquire George for a potential one-year rental hoping to convince the Indiana All-Star and Los Angeles area native to stay in Boston long-term.

The trade talks cooled into the night so the Celtics walked away with Tatum and a slew of second-round picks, and their status in the Eastern Conference wasn’t elevated, although some of their competitors took serious dips in the past few weeks.

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The Cavaliers lost their general manager and are now scrambling to improve after being whipped soundly by the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals. Toronto has done little to improve and Kyle Lowry is an unrestricted free agent. Atlanta could be in for a total rebuild with Paul Millsap as a free agent. Indiana is likely to lose George while Chicago just traded Butler for two younger players and a draft pick.

The Celtics, meanwhile, seem as if they plan to keep Tatum. There is a high level of excitement in the organization because of his versatility. The Celtics needed a skilled offensive player and Tatum can play with Jaylen Brown as well as get tutored by Al Horford.

If you are Ainge and possess all these picks, the best thing to do – unless you can pull off a blockbuster trade for a superstar – is to use the picks astutely and stock young talent. Besides Isaiah Thomas, Horford, Avery Bradley, and Jae Crowder, the Celtics now have Brown (20), Tatum (19), Terry Rozier (23), and Marcus Smart (23) as building blocks.

“I think the biggest thing is that we really like Jayson,” Stevens said. “We think Jayson can play a variety of positions with a variety of guys. I think that, in this kind of position-less league, those guys are really valuable,” Stevens said. “It just takes time to be as good as you want to be. Again, his ability to score against any variety of defenders and his ability to post smaller guys but also stretch out bigger guys allows him to play with whoever else is on the floor.”

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Stevens stresses versatility and Tatum brings the team another element that will be eager to learn. We live in the era of positionless basketball and the Celtics, if they are not going to bring in that transcendent player, need to load their roster with good, young talent that fits into Stevens’s system.

Tatum was the perfect fit for that system. He’s 19 years old and will take time to mature, but like Brown, his skill set and confidence will allow him to make a contribution.

The Celtics would have loved to take a dominant big man in this draft, and likely would not have traded the No. 1 pick if one was available and worthy of that pick. Trading the rights to Markelle Fultz will be something Ainge will have to explain for several years, especially if the 76ers emerge as a serious Eastern Conference contender to the Celtics.

The player that Ainge said the Celtics could get at No. 3 who may be just as good if not better than Fultz and be a better fit was Tatum. That’s a great deal of confidence in the newest Celtic and it’s warranted.

His presence gives Stevens a myriad of options, another shooter on the floor, an athlete who can defend four positions, a player who learned under Mike Krzyzewski and is now ready for the next step. If you recall, Celtics faithful booed the Brown pick because they were unfamiliar with him after just one year at Cal.

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The faithful feel a little more positive about this pick, but Stevens’s selection of college players should be trusted. He seemed to build a quick bond with Tatum and had already figured out where he would play in the Celtics’ offense by the time he worked out for the team Monday.

So the Celtics have another versatile weapon, one who can flourish in both forward positions. It’s the best they could have done without bringing in that superstar they have sought for nearly five years.

Full list of 2017 NBA Draft picks


Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.