Boston Celtics team president gave fans an update on the Celtics’ near-term plans this morning on the popular local sports radio talk show Toucher and Rich during his customary weekly appearance.
With March 1st just around the corner, a few key issues loom for Boston going forward, and the Celtics head honcho shed some light on the franchise’s thinking regarding them.
The chief concern on everyone’s mind is the buyout deadline that arrives with the month of March.
The NBA requires that any player joining an NBA roster must have been bought out by the end of the business day on the first of the month if they wish to play for that team in the postseason.
While there have been several names connected to the Celtics through nostalgia or a superficial analysis of the team’s situation, few actually-available names ought to be moving the needle.
Danny Ainge on @Toucherandrich:
"If we see a move that will help us, we'll do it" when asked about the buyout market. Ainge added "Fans might be too hung up on what familiar names did in the past."
As I've been saying for a while now: a lot of guys are more name than game.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) February 27, 2020
Others which might actually be worth making a move for — and the player who’d need to be cut to roster them — have yet to be bought out and may well not be, a holding pattern explained by Ainge on the show.
“If we see a move that will help us, we’ll do it,” said Ainge (per Yahoo Sports’ Keith Smith), noting that, “fans might be too hung up on what familiar names did in the past” as a not-so-subtle admonishment to temper expectations for an Isaiah Thomas or Evan Turner reunion.
A lot of that has to do with the difficulty of cutting a player who might be able to contribute as well as many of those options, and sometimes as younger, cheaper players in the case of reserve wing Javonte Green.
Others, like center Vincent Poirier, have multiple guaranteed years to consider while also filling a position of need.
Recent hints at rotation players starting to find their offensive legs is another, which Boston’s team president hinted at, saying “our team and our depth is shaping up well.”
The other big thing coming with the arrival of March is the potential return of second-year center Robert Williams III, who has sat since Dec. 9 with a hip injury.
Danny Ainge on Kemba Walker, on @Toucherandrich: "We are confident that his knee is going to be fine and he'll be ready to go at some point in the near future."
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) February 27, 2020
In some ways, there’s a chance Williams can be part of the needed growth for the bench, helping shore up the comparatively thin frontcourt while perhaps picking up where he left off in developing an away-for-basket jumper.
Ainge believes Williams will return as soon as this weekend or soon after so long as his final scan comes back clean.
And as far as health concerns go, the team president joined All-Star Kemba Walker and others in downplaying concern for the UConn product’s knee.
Ainge said, “We are confident that his knee is going to be fine and he’ll be ready to go at some point in the near future,” per Boston.com.
This reflects the level of concern — measured, not panicked — demonstrated by the Charlotte Hornets (his former team) in 2016 when a similar issue flared up — likely to the relief of Celtics fans everywhere.
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