The trade deadline came and went today with the Celtics making exactly ZERO moves. Al Horford seemed the most realistic option, but the Hawks didn’t move anyone noteworthy.
In the end, Danny Ainge just didn’t see anything he liked:
“I feel like we came close to doing some things, but ultimately we didn’t. There were no deals we felt were good enough to do,” Ainge said Thursday during a conference call after the 3 p.m. deadline passed.
Ainge had also made it known that he would continue to hunt for a superstar, but that he was leery of giving up too much for one who would become a free agent at season’s end.
“We have an opportunity in the spring and during the summer to make our team better, much better than the opportunity we had this time in February. So we’re anxious for this spring and summer and to have another crack at it,” Ainge said.
Ainge added that he was somewhat tempted to make a short-term move (i.e. bring in a guy for the playoff push), but the proposals weren’t attractive enough. I don’t have a problem with standing pat.
I’m standing firmly behind Danny. He fleeced the Nets, hired Brad Stevens and acquired Isaiah Thomas for peanuts. He knows what he’s doing.
But…
Ainge is starting to run out of time. He can’t add 4 rookies to the roster next season. And I’m pretty sure Celtics fans will go ape-shit if he doesn’t use some of that cap space to acquire Horford, Kevin Love or any other big name star this off-season.
UPDATE: Kelly Olynyk’s shoulder injury is semi-serious:
“He [Olynyk] received treatment throughout the All-Star break,” Ainge said. “And he definitely won’t be playing for the next couple of weeks.”
Crap. Let’s hope the injury doesn’t cool off KO’s torrid 3-point shooting.
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