Getty Images Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge
One week away from the NBA trade deadline, the anticipation surrounding the president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and the Boston Celtics is mounting.
The clock’s ticking. The team with a $28.5 million traded player exception is heavily projected to strike a deal and the question on the minds of most Celtics fans remains; will Ainge come away empty-handed when the clock strikes 3 PM EST on March 25 and if not, will Danny cash-in the roster’s equity as best as he sees fit?
Setting the Celtics up for a combination of both short and long-term success is ideal. However, as Ainge has reminded us in the past during these times, it’s not always in the cards but as unpredictable as the 2020-21 regular season has been, thus far, Danny’s still eager to see Boston at full-strength.
Danny Ainge On Celtics’ 2020-21 Roster: ‘I’m Not Sure It’s A Perfect Fit’
Ainge, who did a recent Q&A session with MassLive.com’s Brian Robb, talked about the team’s ongoing health issue issues and the domino effect it’s had on the season.
“I’m looking forward to that, to see our whole team,” Ainge said, per MassLive. “It’s always frustrating when you have so many different significant injuries that take guys off your team but this has been an interesting year, and it hasn’t been easy, but it is what it is. Some guys are thrown into roles that have responded and some guys haven’t as well.
“And you know it’s just like, I like the guys on the team, but I’m not sure it’s a perfect fit, and we have to try to find, you know, fit, along with the right talent, but each other and every player on this team, I do like and think that they can help.”
Ainge On Striking A Good Trade Before The Deadline: ‘We can’t Force The Team To Do A Deal’
As for the trade front, the best offer for a targeted player before the trade deadline doesn’t always — at least, by Ainge’s standards — come away victorious when the smoke clears. Even when you’re certain that the offer you made was better than the one that sealed the deal.
“That’s just part of it, like, we can’t force the team to do a deal or we can’t just like keep throwing assets onto there putting,” Ainge explained to MassLive. “You know, investing everything into players that aren’t even, we’re not even sure they’re going to be with us for longer than a year. That’s another thing is with all the free agents that we have in the market this year. There’s a lot of players in the last year of their contracts.
“We don’t have interest in acquiring a player that’s going to be a free agent (in the offseason) that’s probably going to get a lot more money than we think he’s worth.”
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