Danny Ainge thinks only of C's future

BOSTON HERALD

Steve Bulpett

 
Danny Ainge is always busy to one degree or another, but the Celtics’ president of basketball operations may be even more active than usual this season.

He already has made two trades involving rotation players, and there is no move toward the brake pedal with 27 shopping days still left before the NBA trade deadline. Ainge still would like to shake off a veteran contract or two and attain more of the coveted flexibility as he seeks a tighter U-turn back toward serious postseason contention, and yesterday he acknowledged he’s talked with Rajon Rondo about a contract extension.

The difference from the last six seasons for Ainge is that this time he doesn’t have to be concerned with losing ground. While Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (and, for the first five of those years, Ray Allen) were still around, the Celts had to weigh every potential trade heavily for its immediate impact. While they wanted to improve their future stock, they had to be certain not to take a step back and hurt the product of that moment. (As illustrated when the C’s misjudged Shaquille O’Neal’s fitness and dealt away Kendrick Perkins.)

Now Ainge doesn’t have to be worried about whether a trade might cost the Celtics a few wins. From the second he agreed to the Pierce-Garnett deal, he has been playing for seasons beyond 2013-14.

“I don’t do deals just for the sake of change,” said Ainge. “We change for the purpose of progress.

“In the deal that we did with Jordan (Crawford) and MarShon (Brooks), as an example, we like those guys, but we really want to see Phil (Pressey) play. And it was tough for him to get minutes and opportunities. With Rondo coming back, Phil wasn’t going to (get) a chance to play much.

“On top of getting the assets, we like Joel Anthony’s defense, and we like getting the draft picks and all that. But there are so many more things that go on top of it — getting opportunities for development. When we started the season, we just had logjams everywhere.”

One of the logs is back at home, still under contract to the Celts cashing checks and waiting to see if he’s included in a trade.

“I would say Keith (Bogans) was a guy we probably knew going into the year that wasn’t in the long-term plan,” Ainge said. “But with MarShon and Jordan, they’re still young players. I like how Jordan played for us, and I like him as a kid. I like what I saw in MarShon when he got a chance to play in the D-League and his last game with us. I think he has potential and possibilities.

“We’ll continue to monitor them, as well. Those guys are free agents this summer. We’re evaluating everybody in the NBA, along with our own guys. But where we are now, we need to see some guys play.

“We still have a lot of bigs, and we really haven’t had many injuries, except Kelly (Olynyk). Kelly had the injury and was out for five weeks, and Kris Humphries really stepped up. You know, we didn’t go into this with a preconceived idea of who is on the bus. We think every one of them have a chance to be guys we really like, and Kris Humphries is a good example. I think everybody would think he’s not part of our long-term plans, but as well as he’s played and the character he has and the work ethic might play him into consideration for us down the road. We’re trying to figure all that out.”

If anything, by gathering 16 draft picks (with the potential of two others) over the next six years, Ainge has put pressure on himself to make the right evaluations.

“I’ve always believed that you build through the draft,” he said. “And whether those drafted players are Al Jefferson, who you love, and Delonte West, who we developed and loved, and then move them for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — or whether those draft picks turn into Rajon Rondo or Paul Pierce and they’re with you forever.

“So the draft is really important, and now we have a lot of assets. Draft picks are always tradable. Sometimes players aren’t always tradable, once they expose themselves on the court. Draft picks almost always are tradable. But development is really important for us, and I’m happy with the development of Kelly Olynyk and Phil Pressey and Jared Sullinger and Vitor (Faverani). Vitor has been a little inconsistent, which you’d expect with inconsistent minutes and a guy coming from playing European ball his whole life. It’s a whole different life.”

It’s a different kind of life now for Ainge. And a month from now he could be presiding over a vastly different roster.

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I can see why Danny would be happy with the development of Pressey and Sully. Personally, I'd be more reserved in my appraisal of Olynyk's development until the first time I see him clobber an opponent who's going to the hoop. And the flaws I saw in Faverani's game at the beginning of the season are the same flaws I see in his game now; so I'm not sure what development Danny sees in Vitor's game.

Sam