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Tim BontempsESPN
Boston Celtics basketball operations president Danny Ainge said the thinking behind the team’s moves ahead of the NBA negotiation deadline on Thursday – and specifically the acquisition of Evan Fournier in an agreement with Orlando Magic – was to give a team with a lack of confidence a reason to have some optimism.
“I speak to [coach Brad Stevens] especially every day. I talk to the players. I am with the team, in the locker rooms, and I can feel a sense of discouragement and frustration, as it would with any team that feels it is playing below what it can play, “said Ainge on Friday morning.” it is not an incident or personality, but there is a difference when things are going very well and when they are not.
“But when you are not living up to your expectations, there is an opportunity for discouragement and frustration, and I think it happens to all teams. It happened to all the teams with which I was associated. So there is optimism and we bring our team together and we have team meetings and movie sessions and we run a little race, but we are not able to sustain it.
“I just hope that by adding another veteran player who is a versatile shooter with size and versatility, it will give us a shake.”
The Celtics, who are in Milwaukee to play against the Bucks on Friday night, are certainly a team that needs a jolt. Boston is only 21-23 in the season and is eighth in the Eastern Conference standings – far below the standard that Boston has established in recent seasons, when it has been a consistent finisher in the top 4 and reached the Eastern Conference finals in three of the the last four years.
This year’s group, however, never got along in the same way after losing Gordon Hayward to the free agency – a move that followed Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Marcus Morris, all leaving the previous pre-season aimlessly. Hayward’s departure, however, left Boston with a $ 28 million trade exception – which the Celtics used to get Magic’s Fournier for Jeff Teague and two choices in the second round.
Fournier, 28, averages 19.7 points per game, the best of his career, and will give the Celtics another long and versatile offensive player who should fit well with the Stevens system. And although Fournier has an expiring contract, Ainge said he expects the shooting guard to stay with the Celtics for a long time.
When Ainge was asked whether the Celtics can now compete with top teams in the conference – such as Milwaukee, Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers – he said he was not sure. But he said that was not the only reason for making a move like that.
“I also feel compelled to do more than just [that]”Said Ainge.” We are dealing with people here. And I feel that we are trying to improve all the time – at each negotiation deadline, every off-season. And I felt that there was an opportunity. And we felt that there was more than one opportunity, but some of them didn’t work.
“But with Evan in particular, I thought this was a unique opportunity. And to add a player of his caliber, we talked a lot about shooting with size, here is a 6-7 boy who is a good shooter, can make moves, deal with the ball. Just another breeder for us. And a very consistent player. And we’re looking forward to adding it. I think it’s a good use of our [trade exception]. “Boston, which also escaped the luxury tax by sending pivot Daniel Theis to the Chicago Bulls in a separate deal, was not disappointed in both finals this season, with Ainge highlighting the quarterback’s defense drop last season to 24th this season as a particular source of disappointment. And with the Celtics hovering around the image of the Eastern playoffs, Ainge decided that now was the time to shake up the squad, hoping Boston would return to something closer to the level it is used to. to play.
“This is a team that I put together. I am responsible for it. I think you talked about patience; I think I am very, very patient. I have been in this for a long time. I think it is time to exaggerate, but I did not feel pressure to do any. I feel like this is a deal that I would have done at any time in the last few years, probably with this opportunity. But I think the biggest pressure is just that I want our players to have hope, and I want our coach to feel hope, and I feel some discouragement internally with our guys. That was one of the reasons why we did something now, instead of waiting in the future. “