You know, Boston Celtics fans are the same no matter time nor place. They don’t understand that Danny Ainge is gonna make mistakes. So to all you critics from across the land, there’s no need to argue — fans just don’t understand.
That’s the essence of Ainge’s defense for standing pat at the NBA trade deadline on Thursday, when the Celtics, like most of the league, opted not to make any deals. With many fans and analysts decrying the team’s inactivity, Ainge channeled the Fresh Prince in a radio interview on Friday.
“The trades that you see happen [Thursday] are all financial trades, or trades to change team chemistry,” Ainge said on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “There really wasn’t anything significant. There really weren’t any good bargains out there to do. Trades are harder. Short-term contracts make trades harder. The shorter-term contracts, the penalties for the cap and there’s a lot of teams that have draft picks that are encumbered. There’s all sorts of things that average fans don’t understand.”
Entering Thursday, some observers expected the Celtics to deal Brandon Bass, Kris Humphries or even Rajon Rondo to shed salary and open up more playing time for younger players like Kelly Olynyk. Instead, the Celtics, who are under the luxury tax level and have as many as 10 first-round draft picks in the next five years, held steady to the long-term plan.
Ainge and the Celtics were quiet on Thursday, but expect them to get jiggy with it in the summertime.
