Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff
This afternoon on WEEI, Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge echoed his earlier comments that the Celtics believe they can get a potential All-Star with the fifth pick in the NBA Draft.
At the same time he on the idea that the Celtics may make a trade with the number 5 pick that was dealt to them in last night’s NBA Draft Lottery.
Ainge did express disappointment though, likening getting the fifth pick to losing in Game 7 of a playoff series.
Among the interesting tidbits that did come from his talk on WEEI was that right now Al Jefferson and Paul Pierce were the two guys he looks at a untouchable. Also, the Celtics will listen to all offers involving guys on their roster as well as the fifth pick.
He also said they won’t be looking at a point guard in this year’s draft because they believe Rajon Rondo is better than any of the point guards in this year’s draft.
Last night’s reaction from Celtics personnel (courtesy of the Celtics media relations staff):
Ainge:
“We’ve been saying all along that this is a good draft and there are good players. It’s more than a two player draft and I still believe that. I still believe that we are going to get a very good player and I think that we are going to get a player that has a chance to be All-Star caliber.”
“We’re going to get a good player and I really believe that. I mean these guys that are going to be available for us at the number five pick are going to be good, and this is the highest pick we’ve had for a long time. So there are other ways to get lucky and there’s other ways to get guys in the draft. Nobody thought Paul Pierce would be the player he’d turn out to be when he was selected 10. Nobody thought Al Jefferson would be as good as he’s become when we got him at 15 a few years ago. So we anticipate the same kind of luck. We think that there is going to be a very good player in this draft and our fans our going to love who we get, and I think Doc is going to love who we get. It’s just not as easy. We have some work to do this summer.”
Do you think you will trade this pick?
“I will look into that. We’ll have some discussion on that. I always go into the draft process of not anticipating that. Trades are tough and we want to get the best player. And if we can get a good veteran player with the draft pick in some kind of package then we will certainly explore that. And ideally that would be a good thing for us to do right now, but we don’t want to trade away a player that’s going to be a very good player for a veteran just because he’s a veteran. We want talent regardless of their age.”
Head coach Doc Rivers:
“Obviously it’s a good draft and I was disappointed like everyone else. You look at the odds and you thought that you’d be in the top one, two, or three and it didn’t work out. So I think we were all surprised when you saw him lift the envelope and you saw the Celtic name, and that’s not where you wanted to see the name.”
How do you expect the players to react?
“They are fine, players are players. Players are ready anyway and I don’t know what kind of reaction they would have either way. They still know we are going to add a very good player to our basketball team and that we’re going to improve. So I think they will be fine.”
“Danny’s done an amazing job with the draft. He’s been unbelievable. We usually go with the best player available. When that comes up, we look at the guys on the board and we are going to take the best player. We’re probably not going to look at position. We’re just going to take the best player.”
Managing partner Steve Pagliuca:
“The interest is very high. It was high last year. You have to remember we have a lot of great players coming back. We had a huge amount of injuries. As you all know the 19 year old rule came in last year so it kind of doubled up on the draft. And some of these players that are three, four, and five might have been in the top two last year. So there are going to be some All-Stars that are coming out of here, and Danny’s done a great job of finding those kinds of players. Five is a great pick and this is a great draft. The silver lining here is that getting five in one of the best drafts of the last 10 years is a great honor for the Celtics and we should improve the club.”
First Boston had the Curse of the Bambino now we have the curse of Len Bias. Needless to say the C's getting the 5th pick in the Lottery Draft was very disappointing! Ainge and the Doc will have to take what they can get and Hope the team stays healthy next season. Go Celts!
Shappy
Regardless of our draft pick, why are the Celtics not making any changes? We were the Yankees of the NBA and now we’re the laughing stock of the league. The Rick Pitino era was 10 years ago and now Danny Ainge is burying the franchise even further into the ground. ESPN will not even show the highlights to our games. After 5 years of Danny Ainge running the show, with less than a .500 average how long do we stay on this sinking ship? It’s obviously time for some changes! Red would be turning in his grave seeing how pathetic his team has become. It doesn’t matter what it takes, it’s time to shake things up. If we can trade Paul Pierce and his salary for a 1st or 2nd pick then we should do it! Not for nothing but I’m the biggest Paul Pierce fan you’ll come across, but we need a new beginning. A new beginning can only happen with an end to a period of time, a time that all Boston fans would rather forget. Nobody cares about the Celtics anymore and that is a tragedy which should not easily be dismissed. I’m barely old enough to remember the dynasty, which defined all dynasties, that being the Celtics of the 1980’s and previous years. New England sports have turned to the Red Sox and the Patriots to carry the torch. But what about us basketball fans? What about us? No more excuses! We want a team to believe in, not a team that we hope will just limp into the playoffs and some miracle will happen!
This letter is addressed to the people in charge of what used to be the GREATEST franchise in all of sports, bar none! If you can’t make a decision to improve OUR team, then sell the team, because personally speaking as a Boston Celtic fan I don’t think you are in position to run the team. It is an absolute disgrace the position that our team is in and after 20 years all the excuses are falling on deaf ears! This is just a suggestion, but maybe we should hire someone with business experience rather than former players to run our WHOLE organization! This isn’t a popularity contest it’s a business that almost everyone in Boston has all but given up on!