Tag: Danny Ainge

The Celtics’ president of basketball …

The Celtics’ president of basketball operations confirmed a report that the team hired West to scout games on the East Coast as a means to help the struggling former Boston guard, whose NBA career ended in 2012. “Delonte has worked for us for a couple of years at times doing some college scouting in the (Washington) D.C. and Philly area,” Ainge said Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich.”

Former teammate Jameer Nelson is one of …

Former teammate Jameer Nelson is one of many people who have witnessed West’s post-career distress and offered help. The National Basketball Players Association has maintained close contact with West and made itself available as a resource. His college coach at Saint Joseph, Phil Martelli, and West’s former player agent, Noah Croom, have been in communication with each other — and West — about providing him support. The same can be said for the Celtics and Mavericks. Both Boston GM Danny Ainge and Dallas owner Mark Cuban have been in direct contact at various points, according to those close to West.

Danny Ainge downplays panic moves, but won’t rule out a trade

With the Boston Celtics on a three-game skid, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge dismisses panic trades, but leaves the door open to the right deal.

Don’t expect Trader Danny to make a move just to shake things up, even with the nickname.

Speaking with the Boston Globe, Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge revealed that while a trade may indeed end up happening before the February 6 deadline, it would be a deal for improving the team regardless of the recent record.

Ainge made this qualification in response to restlessness surrounding the team’s recent three-game skid in the midst of a busy January, with fans clamoring for change on social media platforms.

While the Globe’s Gary Washburn reports there is a consensus among NBA Executives that the team needs to add a rim protector to truly get in the mix for the NBA Finals, the team’s general manager is resistant to the idea of making a reactive, emotional deal in response to the recent losses.

“I don’t think it’s time to react,” Ainge said. “It’s been a rough stretch but I’m not worried about that.”

“There’s a lot of really good players in the NBA, so there’s always players that you can potentially get,” Danny explained, elaborating on his trade deadline philosophy.

“But I don’t go into a trade deadline with any more stress or pressure that I have to do something to get better. I don’t see it like that. If a deal is there that we like, we do it. If there’s no deals that we like, we don’t do it.”

The 16-year Celtics executive dismissed the idea of finding a single player who might push Boston into clear contention, however.

“That kind of terminology is used a lot in the NBA and I think there’s a lot of teams one piece away if it’s the right piece, if you get Michael Jordan. But I don’t know even what that means, one piece away, it’s all depending upon the piece. Those kind of game-changing pieces are tough to get and tough to trade for, we all know that in our league.”

He also made it clear he wouldn’t be shipping out young players in exchange for short-term rentals, contradicting reporting that has connected Boston to players who could be free agents this summer, like the Detroit Pistons’ Andre Drummond and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Danilo Gallinari.

“I don’t think I’m looking at any short-term urgency to trade away all my young assets to get some veteran player,” Ainge offered. “But we’re looking. We’ll have conversations before trade deadline like we do every year.”

“We like our players. I like all the guys on our team right now,” he added.

“We’re excited about them and each one of them have a bright future. But sometimes you tweak your roster for a better fit, better balance. But at the same time you can also mess your roster up by making changes, too, because these guys get along and play hard together and they like each other and they know our system.”

Boston’s president of basketball operations stressed the normalcy of dropping several games in a row for most NBA teams at this time of year, and reiterated that he wouldn’t be making moves just to calm down the fanbase.

“Change for the sake of change is not what I’m looking for. Change for the sake of progress is what we’re always looking for,” said Ainge.

“We’re not going to give up $19 million of one of our good players to have somebody for three months. That ain’t gonna happen.”

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The Celtics enter Saturday’s game with …

The Celtics enter Saturday’s game with the New Orleans Pelicans on a three-game losing streak, two of those losses to teams with losing records and the loss to Philadelphia without All-Star center Joel Embiid. Still, Ainge isn’t distressed about what is a common NBA skid, and noted injuries as a factor. “I don’t think it’s time to react,” he said. “It’s been a rough stretch but I’m not worried about that.”

“There’s a lot of really good players …

Danny Ainge: “We like our players. I …

Danny Ainge: “We like our players. I like all the guys on our team right now. We’re excited about them and each one of them have a bright future. But sometimes you tweak your roster for a better fit, better balance. But at the same time you can also mess your roster up by making changes, too, because these guys get along and play hard together and they like each other and they know our system. Change for the sake of change is not what I’m looking for. Change for the sake of progress is what we’re always looking for.”

In November, Kanter made the …

In November, Kanter made the last-minute decision to travel to Washington to highlight Erdoğan’s human-rights abuses the day before the Turkish president was set to visit President Trump in the Oval Office. He had a Celtics practice in Boston that day, so he had to appeal to his new coach, Brad Stevens. “I talked to Coach Brad, he’s like, ‘You go,’” said Kanter, sporting black Celtics warmups. “And not just Coach Brad. I talked to the GM, Danny Ainge. I talked to Mike Zarren, his assistant GM, and they all said, ‘You’re good to go.’ It just made me really happy that they care about what’s going on off the court.”

Other indicators suggest Bird would …

Other indicators suggest Bird would have been one of the top outside shooters in any era. He led the NBA in free-throw percentage four times. Though his career 37.6 percent 3-point shooting figure does not sparkle, a closer examination of Bird’s resume proves him far more capable. After struggling on limited attempts early in his career, he shot 39.4 percent from the start of the 1984-85 season to the end of his career even though his numbers dipped after he encountered several health issues late in his NBA life. He hit at least 40 percent of his 3-point tries during each of his four prime seasons, topping out at 42.7 percent in 1984-85. The league average that year was 28.2 percent. Today, it is 35.5 percent. “Most of us would get hot, get in the zone for a game,” Ainge says. “Larry would get in the zone for a month. He would have these 35-point games and 40-point games, just these long stretches of games where he was just on fire. He just was a great, great shooter.”