Ainge: 'There Were No Deals Good Enough That We Wanted To Do'
BOSTON (CBS) -- After a surprisingly quiet trade deadline day, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge spoke to the media and said the lack of trades was not for lack of want.
"We feel like we came close to doing some things, but ultimately we didn't," Ainge said. "We didn't really get anything accomplished that we wanted to do because there were no deals good enough that we wanted to do."
That feeling might be a common one around the league, as the biggest names to move on deadline day were Jeff Green, Markieff Morris and Channing Frye.
Yet Ainge said he was busy throughout the day; the Celtics just weren't enticed to execute any of the potential deals.
"We're not in the business of making a 27-game gain for a long-term price to pay," Ainge said, while adding that the current success of the team might have made him think a bit longer about potentially taking a long-term hit in order to improve in the short term.
As for the Brooklyn draft pick owned by Boston that could end up as a top three pick, Ainge said it was a topic of numerous conversations.
"I think that everybody knows what the value of those picks are. And I think that everybody in this league would like to have a pick in the top echelon of the draft," he said. "But there certainly are players that would be worth trading an unknown draft pick for right now. And so, we did have some discussion in regard to that. There are some players that did get our attention and some that did not get our attention regarding that pick."
The Celtics currently own three first-round picks for this year's draft, and eight overall picks. Ainge said the team will have opportunities to make some more significant trades when the season ends.
"We're anxious for the spring and summer," Ainge said, "to have another crack at it."