The Boston Celtics took a big step forward this season, but they still have work to do to get back to the top of the NBA food chain.
Just ask president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
The former Celtic knows what it takes to win on the basketball court, and he’s also built an NBA champion as an executive. And as evidenced by Boston’s run to the No. 1 seed and the Eastern Conference finals, this team isn’t as far off as the C’s were before the 2008 championship. But they aren’t there yet.
“Just because you’re one piece away doesn’t mean you can get it,” Ainge told the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett. “And if you force yourself to get it, and if you force a deal or force yourself to get the second best available or the third or fourth best available player at that position that you need, then it might not make you that much better or make you still not good enough, and you’re stuck. So, yeah, we’re not that far away, but we’re still a ways away. We still know we need to get better. Everybody in our organization knows we need to get better. We need to add.”
Ainge acknowledged “that next step is by far the hardest,” and that he knows the team is good but not great.
“We have a lot of good players,” he added, “but we need some great ones.”
There’s bound to be some changes to the roster, no matter what happens this offseason. Amir Johnson Jonas Jerebko, James Young and Gerald Green all will be unrestricted free agents, while Kelly Olynyk could be on his way out, too, depending on how things go with his qualifying offer. Then there’s draft-and-stashers Ante Zizic and Guerschon Yabusele, as well as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to consider for roster spots, too. And we’re not even talking about free agency yet.
So, there are some hard decisions coming up for the C’s.
“Time will tell on that, but, yeah, there is a potential for there to be some significant change,” Ainge said. “But maybe less change. Maybe more change; maybe not. A lot will be dependent on what we’re able to pull off in the draft and in deals leading up to free agency and then what happens in free agency. There’s just so much unknown right now. Right now it’s all talk and pipe dreams and planning. But there’s no certainty. It’s an exciting time for us, and it’s a very busy time for us.”
Buckle up, C’s fans. It’s going to be a wild offseason.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
