You name the player and the Boston Celtics have been rumored to be interested in them. From Dwight Howard to Kevin Love to Al Horford, all of the top names buzzing around during the NBA trade deadline have been linked to the Boston Celtics in one way or another.
But as the trade deadline quickly approaches, Danny Ainge has yet to budge despite the Celtics general manager with a litany of assets at his disposal. There are young, talented players on the roster like Jae Crowder, Tyler Zeller, Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley along with two interesting expiring deals in Evan Turner and David Lee that could be used in blockbuster deals. Not to mention they currently own the rights to eight picks in the 2016 NBA Draft including four first round picks headlined by the highly coveted unprotected Brooklyn Nets first round draft pick.
Yet the Celtics have not budged and it could be a decision that helps the teams continuity.
Following from Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe.
“Hopefully nobody gets traded, but with the NBA you never know what will happen,” point guard Isaiah Thomas said. “Somebody might get traded after this practice.”
“I had a team that I was talking to with no change and then answered my phone and all of a sudden we had a few announcements to make, so it’s unique,” Stevens said. “It’s a difficult thing from an emotional standpoint to deal with. So that’s why there’s probably always anxiety around every team at this time of year.”
“You can’t control it anyway, so you’ve just got to stay within what you know how to do,” forward Jae Crowder said. “And that’s come in, work, come do your job, and let the rest of it take care of itself. But it’s out of our reach, it’s out of our control. So you really don’t need to stress it . . . When it’s over, guys take a deep breath and get locked in and finish the season.”
The Celtics were generally hopeful that the team’s core would remain intact.
“Chemistry is everything, camaraderie is everything,” guard Evan Turner said. “It would be something special if they made a trade and someone fit in right away, but there’s an adjustment period to everything and people have to get acclimated. We’re a pretty close-knit group, and at the end of the day, whether it’s basketball or not, you’ll be missing the person you’ve seen the whole year.”
