Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said the thinking behind the team’s moves ahead of Thursday’s NBA trading deadline, and in particular the acquisition of Evan Fournier in a deal with the Orlando Magic, was to give a reason to a team you don’t trust. to be somewhat optimistic.
“I talked to [el entrenador Brad Stevens] almost every day. I’m talking to the players. I’m in the team, in the locker room, and I can feel a sense of discouragement and frustration, just like any team that feels they play under what they can play, “Ainge said Friday morning.” it’s not an incident or a personality, but there is a difference when things go really well and when they don’t. “
“But when you don’t meet your expectations, there is an opportunity for discouragement and frustration and I think it happens to all teams. It happened to all the teams I was associated with. And then there is optimism and we have team meetings. and video sessions and we went out and hit a small series, but we just can’t go on.
“I just hope that adding another veteran player who is a versatile shooter in size will make us shake.”
The Celtics, who are in Milwaukee to play the Bucks on Friday night on ESPN, are definitely a team that needs a shake-up. Boston is only 21-23 this season and is eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, well below the standard set by Boston in recent seasons, when it was a consistently top 4 finalist and reached the Eastern Conference finals in threes. from the last four years.
However, this year’s group never clicked the same way after losing Gordon Hayward to free agency, a move that came immediately after Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Marcus Morris left in exchange for nothing. out of last season. However, Hayward’s departure left Boston with a $ 28 million trade exception, which the Celtics used to get Fournier from Magic for Jeff Teague and a pair of second-round picks.
Fournier, 28, has an average of 19.7 career points each season and will give the Celtics another long and versatile offensive player who should fit in well with Stevens’ system. And while Fournier has an expiring contract, Ainge said he hopes the guard will be with the Celtics for a long time.
When Ainge was asked if the Celtics can now compete with teams at the top of the conference, such as the Milwaukee, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers, he said he was not sure. But he said that was not the only reason to make a move like this.
“I also feel an obligation to something more than [eso]”Ainge said.” We’re dealing with people here. And I feel like we’re trying to improve all the time, every trading deadline, every season. And I felt there was an opportunity. And I felt that there were several opportunities, but some did not happen. “
“But especially with Evan, I thought this opportunity was unique. And to add a player of his quality, we often talked about shooting with size, he is a 6-7 player with a good shot, he can handle ball.other creator for us.and a very consistent player.and we are excited to add it.I think it is a good use of ours [excepción comercial]”.
Boston, who also got rid of the luxury tax by sending him to Daniel Theisto’s center at the Chicago Bulls in a separate deal, has been disappointing at both ends this season, with Ainge highlighting the team’s decline from fourth in defense last season. a special source of disappointment. And with the Celtics hovering over the eastern playoff landscape, Ainge has now decided it’s time to change his roster, hoping Boston will return to something closer to what it used to be.
“This is a team we put together. I’m responsible for that. I think you talked about patience; I think I’m very, very patient. I’ve been at this for a long time. I think there’s a time to overreact. ., but I haven’t felt the pressure of not doing any of these things. I feel like this is a business I would have done at any time in recent years, probably with this opportunity. But I think the biggest pressure is just that I want our players to feel hope and I want our coach to have hope and I feel a little discouraged internally with our boys. So that was one of the reasons we did something now instead of waiting. “