Celtics stand pat at NBA trade deadline
No Paul George, no Jimmy Butler, no moves at all
The Boston Celtics held onto their cache of draft picks Thursday, letting the NBA’s trade deadline pass without making a major move.
In fact, the Celtics failed to make any moves at all, despite being linked to Indiana’s Paul George and Chicago’s Jimmy Butler among others. The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported just before the 3 p.m. deadline that George would not be on the move.
Indiana has passed on trade offers for Paul George and All-Star forward will remain with the Pacers, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 23, 2017
George wasn’t the only superstar to stay put: Butler remained in Chicago after Thursday’s deadline, while Andre Drummond stayed in Detroit. Former Celtic Jared Sullinger was one of several lesser players on the move.
Sources: Toronto is sending Jared Sullinger and two future second-round picks to Phoenix for PJ Tucker.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 23, 2017
Boston’s lack of movement means they retain the rights to Brooklyn’s 2017 first-round pick, which they can swap for their own, as well as Brooklyn’s No. 1 pick in 2018.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters afterward that there were no deals that presented themselves that were good enough to consider.
Danny Ainge : “Nothing was good enough for us to do.” #Celtics pic.twitter.com/w2TsqRMrUB
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) February 23, 2017
Danny Ainge: “I am excited, actually. I was watching practice today, I was very excited by what I saw. I’m not disappointed. Not at all.”
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) February 23, 2017
