Ainge talking to the media this morning

[Celts17Pride]

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=29229.0

Great summary by MrTripleDouble10 at Celticsblog.com

Ainge: "We're still in the process of identifying the players we could take in our position at #58 and also (what it would take) to move up..."

Ainge: "I've talked with a lot of people around the league. There's some good players at the top, but even at the top there's a lot of risk."

Ainge: "We have not made any effort to get to any of the top picks. We've had discussion, but we have not tried to get a top pick."

Ainge: "Most of the players in the first round I wouldn't trade for J.R. Giddens or Bill Walker..."

Ainge: "I think the 1-year college rule, I wish it were 2-3 years of college. The best players have already been picked out (of college)..."

Ainge: "There's probably 100 players...We evaluated a few hundred, but probably 100 that we've looked at since season ended."

Ainge: "I'm not sure why his is popping up, but we love Rajon. It doesn't seem like you have to have any source any more (to report rumors)."

Ainge: "I've heard speculation we're dissatisfied with him; we're gonna trade him because he was late for a playoff game? That's not true."

Ainge: "The first criteria that any trade rumor has to pass: Is it going to help us win a championship this year?"

Ainge: "This opportunity is unique. We have an opportunity to win with this team we have. We don't want to jeopardize that for the future."

Ainge: "Past 50, other than Ginobili/Gomes, there haven't been many players who've succeeded. Why Gomes was available at 50? I've no idea."

Ainge: "It was frustrating watching the Finals and ECF. I felt like we could have been there."

Ainge: "KG's coming along very well. He should be 100% by the time we start training camp. He just went home to L.A."

Ainge: "The free agent mid-level talent pool is fairly deep, but based on our needs it may not be that deep."

[Kefa461]

I'm listening to WEEI'S Dale & Holley.....they are speaking about Ainge's briefing and both think Rondo and they focused on Rondo....was a goner. They thought it was damage control about Rondo.

[bruno sundov]

So how is Rondo a gonner? Wouldn't that mean we need another team to trade with?

[jfs1000d]

Rondo's a goner. Usually with this much smoke there is fire. Ainge has to do damage control to keep his value up, and also, keep Rondo happy in case he isn't moved.

That said, Rondo may be out of here. Too much smoke.

[bruno sundov]

Think of Maggette for about a solid 2 years in LA there was a ton of hype. Never happened. He walked away in FA.

IF we trade rondo I want a superstar in return. Not an all star but a superstar.

[Celts17Pride]

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball ... tics_blog/

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes the team will improve next season -- without adding significant players through the NBA draft or trades.

In fact, Thursday night's Celtic activity during the draft "could be pretty boring," Ainge said during a press conference Tuesday morning in Waltham, "compared to what we've been through the last few years on draft day, it could be very boring. We have a very good team right now and that's a good position to be in -- that we're drafting this late in the draft, we have good young prospects, half our roster is under 25 years old. We have a very young roster."

Ainge said no player is "untradeable," but the Celtics are seeking to maintain their star players and, possibly, add a free agent.

"We've won 128 games in the last two years," Ainge said. "This year, we won 62 and had major injuries. We're a championship contender, for sure, in the last few years and we feel like we're going to be better this year -- we'll have a better team on the court.

"If you look at a trade rumor and if you think it makes us a better team and helps us to win a championship this year, that's the first criteria that any trade rumor has to pass -- that it has to help us win the championship this year. We're certainly not doing anything this year to get a draft pick that's a developmental project that is going to prevent us winning a championship this year. I've had many conversations. But converations are far from anything close -- I mean, we have conversations all the time, every day there's conversations. But a rumor that said lower-level executives are talking about a trade rumor pretty much means it doesn't really have any merit or any value, if it's not being discussed at the top."

[cfan79]

Thanks, I only saw a bit of this on Espn. I love how Danny sometimes lies his pants off and sometimes tells the truth. This way no one knows if he's ever telling the truth.

[Celts17Pride]

Thanks, I only saw a bit of this on Espn. I love how Danny sometimes lies his pants off and sometimes tells the truth. This way no one knows if he's ever telling the truth.

It's never black or white with Danny, it's always gray.

[cfan79]

Yep, though he isn't good at free agent signings, he is one of the best GM's when it comes to trading and drafting.

[kmgarnett21]

I used to LOVE trade rumors in the offseason and I used to LOVE making up imaginary trades, but now, I HATE IT!!!! We were one healthy KG away from repeating this past season, so why even think about trading away our starting backcourt???

The ONLY way I'll be happy is if we get greater value in return. I don't want to trade Ray and/or Rondo for a player/value that is equal or for a draft pick. I want a player/value that is worth more than what we're offering. I didn't even like the Detroit proposal. If that happened, we wouldn't have a PG. To me, Rondo seems to fit this team perfectly. The only more perfect it could get is if we could find a PG exactly like Rondo with the same skill set and speed, but was more consistent in his shooting....and there's not anyone out there who is a great jump-shooting Rondo.

[francishsu]

I don't believe Ainge flat out lies. He just uses verbage that does not pin down a specific course of action. Perhaps you say that he might use some misdirection or tells a half truth. I think there are a number of GMs that do the same.

And for dealing with agents and other GMs, my sense is that Ainge keeps his word. First thing that I remember is when he drafted Orien Greene. I think another player had dropped in the draft that Ainge wanted more, but he had already given a promise to Greene's agent. Ainge tried to work out an alternative with the agent that would allow him to draft the other player (Amir Johnson I think?), but the agent refused. So Ainge ultimately honored his promise.

With Robert Swift, some people believed that Ainge was pretending to be interested in Swift to get someone else to bite. But just from the way Swift and his family were so excited and acting like he was going to be drafted by the Cs, I refuse to believe that Ainge would have deceived them and that he would have picked Swift over Jefferson.

One incident that I recall was a video I saw of Kevin Pritchard during the draft (don't remember which year specifically). The clip had him talking to Ainge on speakerphone and he flat out asked Danny who he was going to draft. And Danny's response was that it wasn't a fair question, while Pritchard insisted that it was. I'm probably reading too much into that small tidbit, but it does somewhat reinforce my belief that Ainge is more honest than a lot of people seem to believe.

The only thing that gave me pause was his dealing with Antoine Walker. I think Walker called him a snake at one point, which made me wonder if Ainge promised something to Walker and did not deliver.