Danny Ainge calls a blockbuster deal 'unlikely,' talks Celtics' free agency plans

The start of free agency is mere hours away, but Danny Ainge is playing it close to vest when it comes to his offseason plans for the Celtics.

The president of basketball operations held court with the media after Robert Williams was introduced at the Auerbach Center on Friday morning, yet Ainge was hesitant to reveal what kind of upgrade he’ll be seeking for Boston as the calendar turns to July 1st.

“That’s a complex question, but I feel like there’s always things we can get better at, sure,” Ainge said when asked about specific areas of need that he may target. “There’s things I’d like to add, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to. We’ll see what happens. I obviously can’t talk about players and free agency and even positions, because it’s all predicated on who we have on our roster and we have a couple of our own free agents we don’t know what’s going to happen with, so that’s where it begins.”

The Celtics are in a position where they may end up running it back with the vast majority of their 2017-18 roster. Eleven players are already under contract and Williams will soon be No. 12. With the expected signing of Brad Wanamaker looming, bringing back Aron Baynes and Marcus Smart could fill up the Celtics roster entirely in July.

The expectation here is that some more roster space will be cleared further down the roster

(Abdel Nader) to make room for at least one free agent acquisition from another team eventually with the mid-level exception. However, with no trade, the Celtics may be looking at a logjam in a couple areas of the roster.

"It's easier when you have three [star] guys already that you've gotten from the years before and you got some budding stars in younger players that are progressing," Ainge declared. "So ... we don't really have a need. We have really good players.

"And so we need to surround them with role players with the rest of our roster that have a chance to win.

Ainge has also heard the trade rumors swirling over the past 24 hours and did his best to throw cold water on them, without addressing any names or teams. He also spoke about the damage that having his own players discussed within those trade rumors can do.

“Well, I mean, I think that most of it is false,” Ainge said of the recent reports. “Especially the details of it. And what I don't like about it is I don’t like how names are just thrown around. You guys probably don't care about the names and that's your job is to make good stories and have things to talk about on the air. But, yeah, most of it's not true but there's sometimes bits and pieces of it that are true. So it's not total lies but -- I can't call it fake news -- but it's complex. These are complex situations and I think that, just like you guys don't like answering or having to respond to rumors, even though it does give you good programming, I don't like it any more, having to deal with the players that are calling me and the agents that are calling me when their name is in a rumor that's like just totally made up.”

Despite downplaying the possibilities, Ainge would not shut the door entirely on a move for another star altogether.

“We explore every trade of a player of certain magnitude or superstar, first ballot hall of fame type of players,” he explained. “We're going to take a look and kick the tires and see if there's something there. But that's all. I think those things are unlikely.”

The sense of urgency that other teams have to make a major splash simply isn’t there for the Celtics. After falling one game short of reaching the NBA Finals without Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving and Daniel Theis healthy, Ainge is confident that this current core can contend without any further moves.

"Yes," Ainge said when asked if Boston is a title contender with this roster. "I felt like we were a title contender last year in training camp. I didn't think we were the favorites, but I felt like we were a contender...I feel great that we have a lot of players that people like and want. That's a great feeling to have. That's not always the case and that's the reason we like our guys, too, is we have a lot of talent on our team. I'm excited about our team going forward."