Wyc and Pags Interview: Having Danny is a HUGE Advantage

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2013/06/celtics_have_all_the_answers


Q: With all of the changes that could take place by the end of the month, is a new Celtics era about to begin?

GROUSBECK: I think there’s a core in this team with a number of players under 30 who can play good basketball. So, I wouldn’t say we’re going into an entirely new era. Maybe there will be some changes in the roster, but those will have to wait until the end of June or early July.

PAGLIUCA: (Rajon) Rondo, (Jared) Sullinger, Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, that’s who we’re talking about.

Q: Pierce and Garnett are foremost in a lot of people’s minds. What are the chances they come back? It sounds like, especially with Pierce, that the ball is in your court; you make the decision.

PAGLIUCA: Danny is evaluating that right now. Pierce is still a very good player. But Danny is looking at where the whole roster is, and that process in mid-June.

GROUSBECK: He’s never made a habit of talking about roster moves while they are in question or before they happen. We’ll figure it out when it happens.

Q: Are you privy to Kevin’s thinking?

GROUSBECK: I will say that we would love to have Kevin back. It’s his decision either way. I think he’ll miss it once he leaves the game, as we all will. We’d just love to see him back.

Q: What do you think of Doc’s situation?

GROUSBECK: We respect Doc too much to speak for him. We won a championship with him, and he’s one of the primary reasons that banner is hanging. He’s one of the best coaches in the world. There’s nothing else you can say about that.

Q: Has Doc actually told anyone he’s coming back? Danny has said that when (Rivers) says he’s not coming back that he’ll pay attention.

GROUSBECK: We’ll let Doc and Danny keep to their private conversations, which are frequent. We’re not here to speak for Doc. Danny has said (Doc is) coming back, and we’re going to leave it at that.

Q: Are you at all worried this team is going to fall deep into a rebuilding phase?

GROUSBECK: Wow, that sounds appealing (laughs).

PAGLIUCA: We’ve rebuilt before, and we have a lot of good players on this roster. It’s too early to make that call. Danny is looking at all of the options, and I’m confident he’s going to pull it off again.

Q: How important a piece do you think you have in Rondo? It’s been said this is becoming a point guard’s league. If you’re going to succeed, you need a quick playmaker.

PAGLIUCA: Rondo is obviously a special player. He’s working very hard at his rehab and is coming along very well. You could see in the playoffs how important point guards are. Teams with good point guards cut down on their turnovers, and when the game slows down that position becomes very important.

GROUSBECK: Anybody who is a starting point guard on a Celtics championship team has proved his value. We expect him to be here for a long time, and I hope he will.

Q: Considering Danny has often looked into trading him, do you feel you eventually have to make a commitment to the guy?

GROUSBECK: I don’t have any comment on that. We’re not going to make any commitments in this discussion.

Q: When you reach the point of rebuilding the team, how well do you feel you can retool in Rondo’s image? It might be a different style of play than people have seen from this team.

PAGLIUCA: We have a very good roster of players. We were crippled by injuries this year. We went into the playoffs with three of our top players out, including our star point guard. (Sullinger and Leandro Barbosa) were also very talented. With these guys out, it’s tough.

Q: Now that you have your eyes on the draft, what’s your impression of the field?

PAGLIUCA: People at the beginning were saying this isn’t a strong draft because there’s no LeBron (James) in it, which is true. But the interesting thing is that our staff is great in a draft where the players are kind of even. Mock drafts are all over the place. That’s the kind of draft that Danny thrives in. There’s a lot of really good players.

Q: Is that what’s being said — not a lot of stars or franchise-type players, but a lot of quality supporting-type players?

GROUSBECK: That’s it, and when you look at how we won in 2008, it was through Danny’s drafting and Doc’s coaching of those players, and us being patient. Danny didn’t draft superstars at the time. He was drafting in spot 15, spot 21, spot 27, spot 32, and he eventually built the team that way because he was eventually able to trade guys who became quality players. I’m glad he’s our GM in this situation, with middle-ranked players. It’s a huge competitive advantage for us.

Q: You guys are going to be up against it again this year in terms of the (salary) cap. Is free agency something you’ll be looking at two years down the road more than immediately?

GROUSBECK: I think it will be pretty hard for us to generate any kind of meaningful cap room for next year in terms of making an offer to a free agent. It would take a lot of work. We were a game away from the Finals last year, so we tried to load up this year’s team as best we could and get another quality year out of the Big Three. As a result, we have some cap problems for this next year. We are willing to spend whatever we can to make the team better, and this will be our 11th straight year trying to spend anything we can. But the rules have become more restrictive in the new CBA.

Q: Knowing your stance in the past regarding citizenship issues, what is your opinion of Terrence Williams’ recent legal trouble?

GROUSBECK: As always, we take player conduct very seriously. We are continuing to look into the incident and Danny has taken the lead in speaking with Terrence. We don’t have anything further to add at this time.

Q: When it comes to branding, does it get any better than presenting the pope with a Celtics jersey?

GROUSBECK: What you didn’t see later was that the pope presented Jim Pallotta with a Jim Pallotta jersey. Jim Pallotta is a big part of this ownership group. He (owns) Roma (soccer club) now as well. He’s a multi-sport investor, and a real enthusiastic guy. Literally, God bless him.

PAGLIUCA: The great thing about that picture is that in the 10 years since we bought the team, the NBA has really grown overseas. It’s great to have a franchise as globally renowned as the Celtics are.



bob


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No commitment to Rondo, eh?

He's the most indispensable player they have..