WALTHAM, Mass. — Kevin Love is coming to the Boston Celtics. He’s not. He is. He’s not.
It’s enough to give you whiplash, if you pay it any heed.
The Celtics don’t.
“Ignore all of it,” Celtics director of player personnel Austin Ainge said of trade rumors in the run-up to the NBA draft. “It’s all planted on purpose. Anyone who’s willing to talk, even off the record, at this time of year has an agenda and is trying to accomplish something. So we ignore absolutely all of it.”
June is typically a slow month for substantive transactions, with free agency on hold until July and most big trades requiring right up to draft night to work out the final details. Because of this, oddly, June also happens to be the time when rumors run rampant.
The Celtics themselves have been connected heavily with the Love sweepstakes, although their collection of young players, draft picks and trade exceptions could make them a suitor in any number of deals. While some teams refuse to comment about their pre-draft work entirely, the Celtics simply answer questions in opaque a manner as possible.
For instance, take this response from Ainge when asked if the players the Celtics would really like to take with the Nos. 6 and 17 picks have already come through the practice facility for a workout.
“It’s very possible,” Ainge said cagily. “We’ve had most of the guys in at this point, so that’s not really revealing much. But we’ve had a lot of guys in that we like.”
There you have it, June NBA-speak at its best. Saying something while saying very little. Well played.
