NBA Free Agency starts on July 1 and it possibly is one of the most exciting times during the NBA season. It's the time of the year when it feels like every rumor you hear got into the liquor cabinet with how outrageous some can be. But that's the part we love about this time of year, rumors start coming in hot and you can't help but be caught up in who is going where, who is going to be traded. Now for this article, I will take a look at two targets for the Celtics, two trade targets, and two free agents and where they could go. If you have not been paying attention to all the rumors and gossip leading up to free agency, not to worry, I have you all covered. Lets begin shall we?

Celtics Targets:

Marcus Smart:

Now I know Smart's offensive numbers won't blow many fans away (10.2 pts, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds with 36.7/30.1% splits), but the video above should be enough reason to convince fans why you need Smart. Smart is the heart and soul of your defense and the team looks noticeably different with and without him out there:

Marcus Smart on/off court statsCleaning the Glass

For the defensive numbers, Smart being out there makes this team more aggressive and force turnovers and they thrive off that ranking in the top 10 with points off turnovers. So if you're looking for box score improvements, then well you won't find it I'm sorry. But why are you looking at box score when the real stats is the impact he can make on the court. Next season, there's a chance Smart's box score numbers continue to decrease, especially if the team keeps Terry Rozier and Marcus Morris. But as long as his plays continue to lead to wins, that's what matters. Unfortunately all that grit and hustle doesn't come with a reliable jump shot. Smart is one of, if not the best, perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. He's also a much-improved playmaker at the point guard position. But the question remains: How much money can you commit a player who can't shoot? Luckily since he is a restricted free agent, expect the team to be patient with him since they can negotiate with him or match any offer he receives in free agency. Or they could also just extend an offer sheet to him and he can just sign that for the year and become unrestricted next season. Smart has made it clear he would love to stay here but also says he wants to get paid too, so it'll be interesting to see how much this team values his winning ways.

Aron Baynes:

Aron Baynes last year seemed like just a filler piece no big deal kind of player. However that is where we were mistaken and he actually was a really great pick up for this team. The chemistry he was able to generate with teammates made playing with him such an easy time. While Baynes tended to find himself on the other end of a poster dunk, his defense was a great asset for this team. Out of the regular starters, Baynes was one of the top starters ranking tied for third with a defensive rating of 103. His offense was also a pleasant surprise for this team too averaging 6 pts and shooting 47.1% from the field while also developing a 3 point shot during the playoffs shooting 47.8 percent (11/23). The Celtics would very much like to bring him back. Once again, however, the question is in the price. Baynes will be in line for a pay raise, and the Celtics can offer him about $5.2M before needing to dip into their mid-level exception. The Celtics could use the full mid-level exception to give Aron (or any other free agent) around $8.6M a year, however, that would hard cap the Celtics and place spending limits on them in deals for possible superstar players that may arise during the year. Luckily, according to the latest report, Baynes seems to all but back for Boston next year. Now it's just how much? But either way if these reports are true, then the Celtics have checked off half of their wish-list for the off-season, next is bringing back Smart.

Let's take a quick break from free agency and get to trades. Obviously we'll take a look at the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes and then another interesting possibility (which depends on what Lebron does) is Kevin Love. But first, lets take a look at the top guy in Kawhi Leonard.

When healthy, Kawhi is one of the top players in the league, top 5 even top 3. Last season he only had played 9 games due to an injury in the playoffs last year and then aggravating it again this year and just not mentally ready to play too. However before he had gotten hurt, Kawhi was an MVP player averaging 25.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 48.5/38% splits. Personally as a Celtics fan, I want nothing to do with him though. Kawhi quit on a team like the Spurs who are seen as the Patriots of the NBA with their culture and coach. The fact someone of that caliber quit on that kind of team makes me wonder how he would handle here? Plus you have such a young core for the future in Jaylen and Tatum, you don't break that up for someone who won't commit to you next year and says he's leaving for the Lakers after this season. Multiple teams are interested in Kawhi though: Cavs, Sixers, Clippers,and obviously the Lakers which is where people expect him to go. The Lakers initially talked to them but had the door shut in their face according to sources. But now they have reengaged the Spurs in talks for Kawhi and things went a little better for them supposedly. The Lakers are willing to include former No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram and some future first-round picks in a package for Leonard. But the Spurs are seeking a far more complete haul of young Lakers players and future picks. The Spurs could just very well sit tight and wait until the trade deadline but with the way Kawhi's mind worked last season, he may just continue to sit out and cite his 'injury'. But all these teams (mainly the Celtics) in the rumors could just be helping drive up the price so teams like the Lakers overpay for him which makes the way the Spurs are handling this perfectly. The team will continue to leak these rumors all to drive up the price for Kawhi, it's such a power move you have to respect it. Overall though, I believe Kawhi goes to LA because as stated before, Kawhi says he wants to be there, plus if the Lakers can sign Lebron too, it makes sense for Kawhi to play there because he has a great chance to win. It all comes down to how much are the Lakers willing to give up? Kuzma? Ball? Ingram? Time will tell, but from everything we see on Twitter, the Lakers seem to be the front runners but like any NBA off-season, things can change incredibly quickly. Who knows, by the time this gets published, Kawhi could be a Clipper for all we know? Oh NBA off-season, you're so fun.

Kevin Love:

Kevin Love all depends on what Lebron does and let's assume he leaves for the Lakers so this leaves the Cavs with a 29 year old power forward with a huge $24 million salary in a 5 year $113 million contract. So the logical thing for the Cavs to do is rebuild and the only player on their roster that can give them strong assets is Love. What team could want him? The Phoenix Suns. What makes me say that? June 28 started out with this bombshell:

Twitter

Sadly nothing happened on June 28 but the signs are definitely there for Love to be on the move to Phoenix. It also just so happens the Suns said they want some veteran's especially bigs which is why they're letting go of Alex Len and Elfred Payton to free up some cap space. Kevin Love fits that description doesn't he? Then you take a look at the second tweet and obviously Lebron is out if Love is out, combined with the Paul George news from earlier and it's all starting to make sense. The difficult part like any deal for a big time player is how you plan to match Love's $25M salary? Lets break it down real quick. They do have Brandon Knight's $14M, Tyson Chandler's $13M, Alan Williams' $5M, TJ Warren's $11M, and even Jared Dudley's $9M to play with. If the Cavs are going to go straight rebuild I can't imagine they care too much about the NBA talent return as much as they would potential picks, and I'm sure the Suns can find a way to make that work. If this actually happens to be a real deal, then this is a great move for the Suns since they have some promising young players in Booker and Ayton so adding someone like Love could be the perfect fit.

Finally we get back to free agency and what a free agency class we have this year. With the many big names we have, I will take a look at the obvious one in LeBron James and one we haven't heard much from in Aaron Gordon.

LeBron James:

The Decision part 3, what a time. You cannot go anywhere, Twitter, ESPN, Reddit, without seeing a LeBron James rumor. While Houston and the Sixers were reportedly in on Lebron James, we all know it will be either Cleveland or the Lakers. I leave out the Rockets and Sixers because LeBron said this time his family will have a big impact on his decision and the Rockets and Sixers are more of a basketball decision and he's been there done that with the Heat. The two options that make sense for his family are the Cavs and Lakers since LeBron has houses in both Cleveland and Los Angeles. If LA is serious about luring LeBron James as a free agent when the process kicks off this weekend, the prevailing wisdom has been that the Lakers need to shake up the roster and bring in credible veteran stars quickly to show James the team can contend with him on board (hence Kawhi Leonard). Plus since this will be more of a family decision, there's even rumors his son has enrolled in an LA school too. But then what about Cleveland? This past season he made the last few critics of his game look bad, and he showed that winning a championship does not prove you are the best player in the world. Sure, Kevin Durant won the title and Finals MVP. Yes, James Harden won the regular-season MVP award. They are both incredible players. But there was no doubt this spring that James looked superior to both. His effort alone showed he was MVP. If James stays in Cleveland, he may not win another championship. But he will show that he is completely secure about who he is and what he has achieved. He also makes a statement and we don't get to tell him how he stacks up to others. He has seen what happened to Durant in Golden State (he won two titles), but people should realize he was a brilliant player before and after he went to Golden State. He is just on a better team now. James should not stay in Cleveland simply to make that statement though. But making that statement allows him to do what some suspect, he really wants to do in the first place: stay home. As he said recently, his kids know Northeast Ohio as home and much of his charity work is based in that area. So for LeBron it comes down to, what does he and his family want? If he is serious about his family involvement during this process, it should be Cleveland. However, if he wants basketball and fame, LA it is. Overall, I think it's LA because LeBron would not want to carry a team like he did last year and next year's Cavs team would be very similar to this past season due to the money tied up in LeBron and Love and I can't see LeBron wanting to do that again. With LA he will most likely have another star with him (Kawhi or Paul George) along with other young talented Lakers his workload will be lighter and he can retire happily and not as exhausted.

Aaron Gordon:

Gordon is an interesting player, he's got some solid upside but not many people may know much on who he is since he plays on the small market Orlando Magic. Gordon posted career highs in points (17.6), rebounds (7.9), and assists (2.3) in 58 games last season with the Magic, shot over 40 percent from three over his first 29 games, then converted a career-worst 27 percent, while shooting 38.4 from the field, in his remaining 29 games. So as we can see, when he's on, he is a very good player and can shoot the ball and get rebounds no problem. However, during the remaining 29 games he was in and out of concusion protocol but he did have stretches where he played consistantly so those numbers on his final 29 games should be a little alarming. Still, it's easy to picture his athleticism and agility defending on the perimeter so Myles Turner can stay home in the paint, rolling and finishing with a one-handed slam, sprinting down the middle of the floor in transition with Oladipo, cutting to the hoop when Sabonis draws a second defender on the block, or running a big-to-big pick-and-roll as he often did with Vucevic and Biyombo. Looking at the Magic's situatioin, it seems unlikely that the team would be willing to sit back and watch another young developing talent grow into his potential on another team. Especially when the other team just happens to be where Victor Oladipo, and to a lesser extent Domantas Sabonis, blossomed. If the Pacers can sign him though, this will be a great fit for the team because as stated before, Gordon can take advantage of the pick and roll while Turner can play the Center spot without having to pretend he's a power forward. Orlando scored 0.72 points per possession when he was the ball-handler compared to 1.25 when he was the screener, and his frequency as the roller would be hard pressed not to increase with the Pacers, who ran the league's most pick-and-roll heavy offense in the league last season.