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Tim BontempsESPN
Danny Ainge, president of Boston Celtics basketball operations, said the thinking behind the moves the team was making ahead of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline – and specifically acquiring Evan Fournier in a deal with the Orlando Magic – was to get a team without giving confidence a reason to have some optimism.
“I’m talking to [coach Brad Stevens] usually every day. I talk to the players. I’m with the team, in the locker rooms, and I just feel a sense of discouragement and frustration, as would happen with any team that feels it is playing less than it can play, “Ainge said Friday morning.” it is not an incident or a personality, but there is a difference when things are really going well and when it is not.
“But if you don’t live up to your expectations, the potential for discouragement and frustration creeps in, and I think that happens with every team. It’s happened with every team I’m associated with. And so there is optimism and we bring our team. together and we have team meetings and movie sessions and we’re going to run a little bit, but we can’t keep it up.
“I just hope adding another experienced player who is a versatile shooter with size and versatility will shock us.”
The Celtics, who are in Milwaukee on Friday night to play against the Bucks, are certainly a team in need of a shock. Boston is only 21-23 in the season and ranks eighth in the Eastern Conference standings – well below the standard that Boston has set in recent seasons, when it was a consistent top-4 finisher and the Eastern Conference- finals in three of the past four years.
However, this year’s group never clicked in much the same way after Gordon Hayward’s loss to free agency – a move that followed Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Marcus Morris who all left the previous off-season for nothing. Hayward’s departure, however, left Boston with a $ 28 million trade exception – which the Celtics used to land Fournier of the Magic ahead of Jeff Teague, and a pair of second-round picks.
The 28-year-old Fournier has averaged 19.7 points per game this season and will once again give the Celtics a tall, versatile attacking player who should fit into Stevens’ system. And while Fournier has an expiring contract, Ainge said he hopes the shooting guard will be with the Celtics for a long time to come.
When asked if the Celtics can now compete with the teams at the top of the conference – such as Milwaukee, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers – he said he wasn’t sure. But he said this was not the only reason for taking such a step.
“I also feel obliged to do more than alone [that]’Ainge said.’ We are dealing with people here. And I feel like we’re just trying to get better – every trading deadline, every low season. And I felt there was an opportunity. And we felt like there was more than one chance, but some of them failed.
“But with Evan in particular, I thought this opportunity was unique. And to add a player of his caliber, we’ve talked a lot about shooting with size, here’s a 6-7 kid that’s a good shooter. can play, can take the ball Just another maker to us And a very consistent player And we’re excited to add him I think it’s a good use of our [trade exception]. Boston, which also popped out of the luxury tax by sending starting center Daniel Theis to the Chicago Bulls in a separate deal, has done too little on both sides this season, with Ainge lasting the team’s drop from fourth in defense. season to 24th this season as a particular source of disappointment.And as the Celtics hovered around the edge of the East playoff picture, Ainge decided now was the time to shake up the squad, hoping Boston reverts to something closer to the level it is used to play at.
“This is a team that I’ve put together. I’m responsible for it. I think you’ve talked about patience; I think I’m very, very patient. is a time to overreact but i felt no pressure to do any of these things i feel this is a deal i probably would have done anytime with this opportunity for the last few years but i think the biggest pressure is exactly what I want our players to feel hope, and I want our coach to feel hope, and I feel inner discouragement in our boys. So that was one reason why we were doing something now instead of on the road to wait. “