Danny Ainge cleared the air on the Kyrie Irving drama ... or so he thought.
The Celtics president of basketball operations said Wednesday he had a "pretty good idea" Irving wouldn't re-sign in Boston by March or April. In an interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Toucher & Rich" on Thursday morning, Ainge revealed Irving told him he was considering signing with the Nets or Knicks.
"He did express to me on a couple of occasions between March and the end [of the season] that he really wanted to go home," Ainge said. "I got the impression at that point that he wanted to play in Brooklyn more than he wanted to play in New York."
But Ainge apparently didn't like how his comments were interpreted ... because about an hour later, he called back into "Toucher & Rich" to clarify some discussion around Irving that he believed was "not accurate."
"I did not say that he said he was gone in March," Ainge added. "I said that he said the possibility of being gone was there, not that he was going to leave. He still was a strong possibility of staying in Boston."
Ainge admitted he never discussed an extension with Irving, even after the All-Star point guard told fans he would re-sign. But he also insisted Irving was open to sticking around despite Brooklyn and New York emerging as intriguing options.
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"He did keep open the possibility of staying, and I believed that that was real," Ainge said. "I don't believe that he was just playing both sides of the game. He didn't have to tell me any of that stuff."
"I asked him point-blank in the conversations that I had with him, 'Would you consider returning to Boston?' And he was always, 'Yes.' He was always in that frame of mind. I don't think that he was out the door for sure by then. I think he was contemplating all of his options."
It's clear Irving had free agency on his mind from an early part of last Celtics season. But Ainge was adamant that their "marriage" didn't officially end until the last minute -- adamant enough to call into a talk radio show to defend his stance.
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