In retrospect, I think it looks like Danny did the right thing.
May I bump this after the CAVS series?
The only trade that may have possibly helped this team get past the Cavs would have been DeMarcus Cousins. Guys like Ibaka and Tucker were not going to make a difference and guys like Butler and George would have required us to give up so much that it's hard to say if the team would have been any better overall.
Cousins, however, was gettable for relative peanuts and could have immensely improved our talent level.
Mike
We don't know for sure how gettable he was. Ranadive really liked Buddy Hield, more so than other teams. We know how much he values shooting and Hield is still on his rookie deal for three more years. If you think Hield is a player, that's certainly not nothing.
Looking at the Celtics' assets, we don't really have anything comparable in value besides Jaylen Brown. Smart is not a good shooter, Rozier hadn't shown much, Olynyk is going to be a FA soon. Bradley maybe could have gotten it done, or Crowder, though they're older than Hield and more expensive.
Also complicating things is we only have the Brooklyn pick in the first round this year and a sure to be in the 20s first rounder in 2018. Sacramento wanted a pick and the BKN pick probably was too valuable for the Celts to consider. Could we have included a third team and acquired a mid-first rounder? Maybe, but Smart, Rozier, Olynyk, those guys are not going to get that done. It would have cost Bradley or Crowder again.
So in conclusion, it would have cost us at least two players out of Brown, Crowder, and Bradley to top the New Orleans deal in Sacramento's eyes. Otherwise, you would have had to include the BKN picks. Either way, it definitely wouldn't have been as cheap as people think.