Ainge was on with T&R today. Here is some of what he talked about in terms of the trade deadline.
“I’m certainly aware of all of our competition around the East. It’s not from a lack of desire to want to do a trade, but as an organization we have priorities and a plan,” Ainge told
98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich during his weekly interview Thursday morning. “We’re not looking for Band-Aids and we’re not looking to give up future assets. We’re trying to build something more sustainable than a rent-a-player.”
Ainge said there has been plenty of interest in this year’s Brooklyn Nets pick, which has the best odds of being the top overall selection in June, but the team’s dearth of future picks and young assets makes the asking price go up whenever he’s dealing with other teams.
“Everyone knows the assets we have and the young players we have,” he said. “In any conversation we have the price is a lot because of what we have in the bank. That’s the challenge we’re facing and we’re trying to stick to our plan. If a deal comes along where the price to add someone to the team who is more long-term than someone who is just the last 25 games of the season, we have more interest in that than we do in finding a Band-Aid.”
While he admits the Celtics could use some help on the defensive glass, Ainge isn’t going to sacrifice their success in spacing the floor for a little more rebounding.
“We talked about this before the season started and our biggest weakness is defensive rebounding. Some games we get away with it and our guards get back in and get a lot of rebounds, but that’s been a team focus. But it’s also our greatest strength to play skilled players,” he said. “When we have Kelly Olynyk and Al Horford on the court, and the floor is spread for Isaiah and three-point shooters at our big positions, that’s why [Isaiah is] having such a great year and we’re scoring at such a high clip this season. You can’t just put a rebounder that can’t shoot out on the court because it might provide some help on the rebounding end, because it takes away from our strength on the offensive end.
“We know what our weaknesses are; we’d like rim protection and rebounding. At the same time we do like skilled bigs to play around our guards,” added Ainge.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/02/16/ainge-celtics-not-looking-for-rent-a-player-or-band-aid-trade/