Appearing on the popular New England sports radio program and podcast “Toucher and Rich” this morning, Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge confirmed that the team had been in contact with the Houston Rockets about disgruntled superstar guard James Harden ahead of his trade to their Atlantic Division competitor, the Brooklyn Nets,
“We had conversations regarding James [Harden], but not recently; we did have conversations,” shared the Celtics head to the show’s hosts. This seems to confirm early reporting that while the team had done due diligence on the Rockets star, that no deal was in the making.
“We had numerous talks, but the price really wasn’t changing,” added Ainge.
“The price was really high for us, and it was just something we didn’t want to do. I’m not sure there was anybody, even the people within our organization that respected him and wanted him more, but I think unanimously we decided it wasn’t the time for us and it wasn’t the price.”
The size of the haul Houston landed from the Nets — dwarfing even the massive deal Boston cut with Brooklyn in 2013 — seems to confirm that position.
Could the James Harden deal open up other trade targets for Boston? https://t.co/zld8UALg0M
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 14, 2021
So big it may well have a similar result as the previous all-in megadeal that franchise inked if all does not go well.
And with the mercurial nature of all three of their stars as much a potential issue as Kyrie Irving’s recent absence and subsequent video scandal is in the present, it’s a sizeable risk to have taken.
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