Celtics CEO and face of the ownership group Wyc Grousbeck was on WEEI this morning covering a variety of topics. Among the major bullet points from the interview were the comments regarding the trade deadline.
Wyc Grousbeck on why the Celtics didn’t make a move at the deadline: “I know what the offers were. You wouldn’t have taken them.”
— Gary Dzen (@GlobeGaryDzen) February 26, 2013
Danny has been skewered by some for not taking what he could get for an aging core that may well retire in the coming years. Grousbeck acknowledged that the Celtics got more calls about Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in the days before the trade deadline than anyone else. But just because the Celtics got calls about these guys doesn’t mean they got offers that made them want to pull the trigger.
Playing into things was Grousbeck’s insistence on maintaining their playoff possibilities. He said quite plainly that he doesn’t want to blow up a team if it has a chance to make the postseason, adding “we’ve got a chance this year to do something important.” The playoffs, he said, were a place to teach the younger guys on the team what winning Celtics basketball was about. He also added “this team is tough, I wouldn’t want to play us in the playoffs.”
Another thing you’ve heard over the past few days is the “it takes two to tango” explanation for the lack of deadline deals. Wyc brought that up today as well, noting the Celtics have been aggressive and, once they make a decision, they stick to it. He made it seem other teams backed out of deals they seemed ready to make. He did say that the new CBA made things difficult, but he expects June and July to be very active as teams get more used to what deals can and can’t be done.
Other notes from the interview:
Paul Pierce’s number is definitely being retired no matter what (which is not a shock). While he didn’t specifically say Garnett’s would… he hinted very strongly at it (he also mentioned that he should put Danny’s 44 up there for putting the 17th banner team together).
He envisions Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, and Jared Sullinger on this roster in 5 years. When asked if this team was better off without Rondo, he gave a swift and disdainful “no.”
There’s more. Once the audio is posted, I’ll update this post with a link.
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