Majority team owner Wyc Grousbeck spoke about the Boston Celtics offseason plans in early March, suggesting that “there could be some fireworks” come June.
June has passed, and so has July, and the Celtics still find themselves lacking star power in a league driven by talent.
Boston lost out in the Kevin Love sweepstakes, as the Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves have reportedly agreed to a deal that will pair the All-Star forward with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. The C’s kept their draft picks, and their biggest splashes were signing Evan Turner and acquiring Tyler Zeller and Marcus Thornton in a three-team trade.
Still, Grousbeck is happy with what Ainge and the Celtics accomplished.
“I said we’d try for fireworks and we tried,” Grousbeck said at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies Friday, via the Boston Globe. “I’m reasonably content that, first of all, we tried as hard as we could, and second of all, we added some good pieces. But we have maintained our draft picks and we’ve maintained more building in the future as opposing to firing all the bullets now.”
Grousbeck said the team will now have to head into a “more patient route,” developing young talent and setting themselves up to make a run at premier players.
“You gotta get the superstars, so you’ve got to build up the assets to get them and that’s what we’re trying to do,” Grousbeck said, via the Globe.
The Celtics finished with a 25-57 record in 2013-14, the team’s worst finish since 2006-07. Yet Grousbeck sees his team heading in the right direction with president of basketball operations Danny Ainge and head coach Brad Stevens at the helm.
“Whether it’s during the season, next summer or the season after, I’m very confident we’ll get better and I believe that,” Grousbeck said. “Those guys (Ainge and Stevens) are fantastic basketball people.”
