Danny Ainge has made no secret about wanting to get a trade done that will bolster the Boston Celtics’ standing in the NBA.
While they come into tonight’s game at Portland with the sixth-best record in the NBA, by no means are they considered a team that’s built to win a title right now.
But as much as Ainge feels a sense of urgency to strike a deal, he knows all too well there’s a tremendous amount of value in waiting for the right deal to manifest itself.
“This time of year, nobody really has given their real price or what they will give you for the assets we have,” Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations said during his weekly conversation on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show. “So we will wait and see.”
One of the most successful trades Ainge has engineered came just a couple years ago when he landed Isaiah Thomas from Phoenix.
During the Toucher & Rich show, Ainge explained how that deal came about.
“When we did the Isaiah Thomas trade, we said what we would do and dealing with my good friend (and former assistant GM for the Celtics) Ryan McDonough, he said ‘no, I need more in return’ which I understood. But we just weren’t willing to do more at that time. And a couple hours before the trade deadline, they came to our price and we got a deal.”
Boston Celtics
Boston acquired Thomas, a two-time All-Star since the trade, in exchange for Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first round pick that wound up being Kentucky’s Skal Labissière, who now plays for Sacramento.