A report surfaced Friday morning that the Boston Celtics are being “quietly aggressive” as the NBA’s Feb. 18 trade deadline approaches. So, is Boston planning on shaking up its team with a big splash?
Not quite, according to Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck.
Grousbeck appeared on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz” radio show Friday afternoon and tempered expectations a bit when asked about his team’s plans over the next few weeks.
“I think we’ll do something. Will it be transformative? I don’t know,” Grousbeck said, via CSNNE.com. “There are only a few players we’d be willing to make a transformative move for because the picks could be good. I think the odds are pretty slim you do a transformative trade.”
Grousbeck’s comments are pretty much in line with those of Celtics president of basketball of operations Danny Ainge. They are both are aware of the circumstances: They have the assets to make a deal, but there’s just not a whole lot on the market right now.
“We have objectives that we would like to accomplish, but you have to make a good deal,” Ainge said in a radio interview Thursday, adding that the Celtics aren’t in “panic mode” just yet.
The C’s are riding high on a five-game winning streak that has vaulted them into the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. That’s a huge improvement from seasons past, but both Grousbeck and Ainge know Boston still needs to improve significantly to compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East or dominant teams like the Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs in the West.
The Celtics have a host of future draft picks at their disposal, but it appears the club is playing its cards close to its chest to wait for the right deal.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
