Tag: celtics trade deadline

Ainge: ‘there just weren’t any deals we felt would make us better’

Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge explained why the team stood pat at the trade deadline in a recent interview.

The Boston Celtics made no moves at the 2020 NBA trade deadline, and it left a lot of fans scratching their heads.

With three incoming first-round picks and not enough slots to roster them, a bench too green to contribute in the regular season (never mind playoffs), a need for bench scoring and aspirations for a deep playoff run, it seemed near-certain Boston would make some kind of move.

But when the clock struck three p.m. on February 6, all 17 players on the Celtics roster remained with the team, and head honcho Danny Ainge made a point of appearing on NBC Sports Boston to explain why.

Ainge said (courtesy of MassLive’s John Karalis): “We didn’t have any good deals.”

“We had a lot of conversations over the past couple of weeks, there just weren’t any deals we felt would make us better,” he added, and truthfully there were no realistic deals to be had that would have been a slam-dunk to change the team’s likely playoff ceiling.

But what about all those incoming picks?

They can be combined to trade up or out of the 2020 NBA Draft, sold for cash or traded for players, and even if Boston did use them all, they’d have until the end of the offseason to get their team down to the requisite 17 players.

After the regular season ends, the allowed roster size expands from 17 (including two way players) to 20 players, and incoming rookies cannot be signed until the start of the new season, meaning the Celtics will have the space until they decide to do — and they’ll have until late October to decide.

Boston was most notably tied to Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans, whose reported asking price of two first-round picks was too much for the Celtics. But his role might have changed considerably for Boston, a fact Ainge may have been alluding to.

“Often times people want us to get a first or second best player on another team and by acquiring that player it could be very expensive … That player will come to our team and…won’t get the same role and they won’t be able to play with the same freedom and get the same amount of shots and get the same amount of minutes.”

The awkward mix of very low and very high contracts for their players also presented a considerable obstacle for the Celtics, which made making a deal impossible in the end even if several teams were interested in getting those slightly superfluous draft assets.

The team will now survey the buyout market ahead of the March 1st deadline for players joining the team via that route to be playoff-eligible, and truth be told it doesn’t seem to bother Boston’s president of basketball operations much.

“I feel good about where we are today and that we didn’t do any of the deals that might have been tempting,” he added.

As the old chestnut goes, sometimes the best moves you make are the ones you don’t, after all.

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Celtics tried to land Wizards’ Bertans, but couldn’t agree on price

The Boston Celtics were in pursuit of Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans, but couldn’t convince GM Tommy Shepherd and company to do the deed.

It’s far more common to hear about the deal Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge nearly made midseason than the ones that he did.

It’s enough to get some fans to ask why he’s called “Trader Danny” as a nickname, though those upset fans would be wise to look to the point guard driving their favorite team’s unexpected success.

Ainge may rarely make a midseason deal, but he’s been holding up his end of the bargain over the offseason quite well for someone so baptized, and evidently this season the fish that got away was Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans.

The sharpshooting Latvian was never on the market, as Wizards GM Tommy Shepherd repeatedly noted, and Ainge’s endeavors to move the forward to Boston’s roster were never going to get anywhere without multiple first-round picks.

It’s true that Bertans would be far from a guarantee at contention as a Celtic, but it’s moments like these that make fans frustrated with their pick-hoarding GM’s tendency to want to win every deal.

With as many as three incoming picks in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft, Boston will need to make moves between now and the end of the offseason.

They’ll need to in order to be able to roster those incoming picks, whether it involves aggregating them into a higher or future pick, dealing them away, or cutting or trading away players currently under contract.

And while the Latvian Laser may not be suiting up for the Celtics any time soon, it’s not out of the question the team may start making cuts if an attractive candidate comes along as a buyout candidate.

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Celtics stand pat, make no moves ahead of the trade deadline

The Boston Celtics rarely make midseason moves, and the 2020 NBA trade deadline proved no exception as this iteration of the team will remain unchanged for the present.

The Boston Celtics had eyes for plenty of potential trades ahead of today’s 3 pm Feb. 6 deadline, but ultimately decided to stand pat.

While Boston has some needs to improve their bench with one of the worst bench scoring units in the league and more incoming draft picks than they can roster without making moves, they weren’t interested in burning through draft picks for some of the priciers asks on the market, it seems.

Boston was connected to a number of targets ranging from now-Atlanta Hawk Clint Capela, Washington Wizard Davis Bertans, and Detroit Piston Christian Wood to wings Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III (who were ultimately dealt to Atlantic Division rival Philadelphia 76ers).

None of the potential deals came to fruition before the league-mandated embargo on trades began, reports the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.

Attention will now turn to the buyout market if Boston looks to make any changes at all ahead of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

Any potential additions via that route will need to be waived by their current team before the end of the business day on March 1st to be eligible for the playoffs, and the Celtics would need to cut a player to make room for them.

For now, though, the team will remain as is and intact.

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Report: Celtics pivoting to big man targets ahead of deadline

The Celtics have reportedly not been finding the deals they’d hoped for in a hunt for a wing, and are now looking for a big.

The Boston Celtics may be pivoting towards looking for a big man to bolster their team after all.

Not the splashy sort involving a big-money contract, but someone able to fortify the bench rotation and maybe even add some shooting or at least scoring as well.

The rumors the Celtics may have changed priorities was reported by the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett, who relates the team may be most interested in dealing for a power forward or center.

Another agent with players involved in the negotiations between potential trading partners related to Bulpett that Boston has not been close on negotiations to secure additional wing depth.

This was perhaps underscored by the Wednesday night deal sending the Golden State Warriors’ Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III to Atlantic division rival Philadelphia 76ers.

While nothing connected the team to those players apart from speculation, the duo represents exactly the sort of low-cost wing depth Boston has been looking for, and the cost of three second-round picks was not a cheap one.

There is a not-small possibility the team does not make a move if no trade partner is willing to dance for whatever the front office deems is a fair price.

If that happens there will still be plenty of buyout options like former Celtic Evan Turner and perhaps the Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson.

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Report: Celtics among several teams interested in Markieff Morris

Detroit Pistons forward Markieff Morris is reportedly a player the Boston Celtics have interest in trading for, reports The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.

The Boston Celtics may be interested in trading for Detroit Pistons forward Markieff Morris, reports The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.

Twin brother of former Celtic Marcus Morris Sr., the swingman is a solid defender able to cover beefier bigs for short stints and knock down outside shots at a 39.3 % rate.

Perhaps most interesting is that he’s been doing it for just $3.2 million this season with a player option for just $160,000 more in 2020-21.

With the 3pm Feb. 6 trade deadline less than 24 hours distant, Boston is far from the only team trying to secure his services — O’Connor reports the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers and Lakers have all expressed interest in the Philadelphia native.

While Morris’ contract may be small, such an arms race for his services could potentially see a first-round pick change hands to secure such a deal.

The Celtics have as many as three incoming firsts for the 2020 NBA Draft and not enough open roster spots available for them, so the deal might make sense when considering they may need to use draft assets to clear space anyhow.

Whatever the ask, Boston is well-positioned to make a move to fortify bench shooting with a veteran player. That move may not end up being Morris — or anyone at all — but we’re less than a day away from finding out.

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Rival GMs reporting Boston has little interest in dealing core players

Rival general managers are reportedly relating the Boston Celtics do not plan to move their five core players, and are looking to upgrade their bench.

It seems what Boston Celtics team president Danny Ainge is telling fans is lining up quite well with what he’s been telling other general managers in the NBA.

Namely, that the team is not interested with trading any of their core five players, according to the Boston Herald’s veteran reporter Steve Bulpett.

Those players would be point guard Kemba Walker, shooting guard Jaylen Brown, forwards Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum, and presumably do-everything guard Marcus Smart.

That leaves a fair amount of players, but earning small salaries unlikely to be aggregated into a splashy player like the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond or Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kevin Love.

And of the players presumably up for grabs, the sense is that the asking price for many is fairly steep — Boston won’t be combining salaries ahead of the deadline solely to make a move they could just as easily finish over the summer.

“I don’t see [Ainge] giving away any of the other rotation guys away for cheap, either,” related an anonymous GM to Bulpett. “They’re getting good contributions from a lot of guys who are under really good contracts. You don’t want to mess with that if you don’t have to.”

Bulpett confirms Boston has indeed been on the horn regarding recently-connected Houston Rockets center Clint Capela, but the interest level is not what it had been in the past.

As the Celtics’ president of basketball operations has made a point of emphasizing lately, the team is happy with their center rotation, meaning any inquiry into the Rockets’ rim-runner is likely more due diligence than anything else.

For now, it seems, the focus remains on incremental improvements that make sense and won’t rock the boat in terms of chemistry this team has depended on so much this season.

That could spell a dull trade deadline for Boston fans, but if the right deal isn’t on the table, sometimes the best trade to make is not making one at all.

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Danny Ainge: Boston looking to ‘strengthen the end of our bench’

Speaking ahead of the Boston Celtics’ Feb. 3 win over the Atlanta Hawks, team president Danny Ainge revealed a little bit of the franchise’s trade deadline plans.

Not with a bang.

That’s how you ought to expect the 2020 NBA trade deadline to go for the Boston Celtics, if team president Danny Ainge is to be believed.

Speaking on the pregame show of NBC Sports Boston Monday, the Celtics head honcho revealed the team was indeed considering a move ahead of the February 6 limit on moving players between teams.

But not, importantly, one that would shake up the core of elite wings and backcourt players driving the team’s success this season.

“We probably have, I think, too many really young guys,” offered Ainge (courtesy of MassLive’s John Karalis).

“We’re going to look around, but we certainly don’t want to make a deal just to make a deal,” he explained, saying “we’re going to look to see if there’s ways to strengthen the end of our bench, but I think we like all of our guys.”

This is in line with what most analysts have been surmising of the situation in the midst of the national media often suggesting the team needs a splashy big man move that has since died down under increased scrutiny.

For the most part, the teams which have been calling the Celtics have been inquiring about the team’s three first-round picks that may convey this season.

Boston may get a top-six protected Memphis Grizzlies pick projected to fall in the middle of the first round, an unprotected Milwaukee Bucks first likely to fall close to the end of the first round, and their own pick, likely to fall in a similar range.

Such a range of selections are not especially attractive on their own, but could be used to grease the wheels for a bigger trade, perhaps helping to explain the link ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday, Feb. 3.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens over the next three days,” opined the Celtics executive.

“But up until this time, we haven’t had very many teams — let’s say we’ve had 8 or 10 teams that have reached out that have asked us to do a deal,” Ainge continued.

“I think our draft picks have some interest. I think everybody always has interest in draft picks, especially teams that have just given them all away. So that’s why draft picks are important. They’re important at the trade deadline but they’re also very important at draft time to make deals to improve your team.”

“Not just taking a swing with a young player in the draft, but also in the trade market, he added.

Whatever way Boston chooses to move forward this week, there’s no urgency for a splashy move, and if smaller, end-of-bench moves can’t get done from the glut of wanna-be contenders hoovering up the available options, the Celtics will be a good position moving forward.

While the team undoubtedly needs to make some moves to accommodate incoming players, that can be done in the offseason, especially ahead of the draft. Ainge made a point of repeating that the team does not have the hole at the five some analysts were suggesting earlier in the season.

“They’re holding their own against all the centers in the league,” he offered.

“We’re not getting beat at the center position. We’re getting 17, 18 points a night, we’re getting double figure rebounds. We’re just doing it as a team. Grant Williams has given us good minutes at the center position as well on top of those guys … I feel good about our center position.”

With the team less than 72 hours removed from 3pm Thursday, Feb. 6, we won’t have much longer to wait to find out what — if anything — Ainge and company have planned.

But even if the team makes no moves at all, there’s still potential to be had on the buyout market, and the team as currently constructed could very well go quite deep into the postseason if all are healthy come the end of the regular season.

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Report: Celtics ‘engaged’ with Rockets on Clint Capela

The Celtics are reportedly kicking the tires on Rockets center Clint Capela, per Woj.

The Boston Celtics are engaged with the Houston Rockets regarding a potential deal for Rockets center Clint Capela, according to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski.

Woj’s report contains little in the way of detail, so the level Boston is “engaged” could vary widely, from casual interest in being a facilitating party to the team actually trading for Capela to a direct participant with interest in the 25-year-old.

ESPN cap guru Bobby Marks notes the Celtics would need to send out $10 million in salary to make the deal work per CBA guidelines, meaning a trade featuring something like reserve center Enes Kanter, rookie wing Romeo Langford and big man Vincent Poirier could work, if the Rockets were interested in such a combination.

They also have three first-round picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, so it’s not out of the question the team could be serious about making a deal for the Swiss center.

Otherwise, a trade would have to use one of the two other big salaries able to be moved, namely guard Marcus Smart or forward Gordon Hayward — and would require taking back additional players as salary ballast, or sending to a third team with cap space or an exception.

While the bones for a deal do exist, it would take some finesse on Boston’s side to make a deal happen which makes sense for all involved — Celtics Wire will be monitoring these rumbles closely as we get closer to the February 8 trade deadline.

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