The Celtics’ vice president of basketball operations told The Boston Globe on Wednesday that he’d consider trading the team’s aging veterans — Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — if it would help foster a transition to the next era.
Ainge would make a deal if it involved bringing in younger talent, so that the Celtics don’t have to go through a difficult 10-year span like they did upon the departures of the previous Big Three — Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.
Ainge spoke with the Globe’s Gary Washburn about a conversation he had with Red Auerbach during the 1990s.
“[Auerbach] had a chance to trade Larry [Bird] (to Indiana) for Chuck Person and Herb Williams and [Steve] Stipanovich, and he had a chance to trade Kevin [McHale] (to Dallas) for Detlef Schrempf and Sam Perkins,” Ainge said. “I was like ‘are you kidding?’ I mean I feel that way now. If I were presented with those kind of deals for our aging veterans, it’s a done deal to continue the success.”
Ainge said he believes the Celtics are a much better team than their current record indicates, and that they’re just struggling to find some consistency at this point. Because of that, he said that he’ll have to be patient and not overreact when determining whether the C’s are contenders.
