Kevin McHale chimes in on the Celtics' current status and Danny Ainge's patience

Kevin McHale spoke about his former team and teammate during a conference call with Turner Sports analysts. His take on the current competitiveness of the Celtics' roster is similar to what many people would say- close, but maybe not close enough.

He believes another key scorer who can create for himself (like Isaiah Thomas) would put Boston over the top. A. Sherrod Blakely from CSNNE.com noted McHale's comments:    

They will play very well, (Al) Horford was a good pick up for them. But I think (they) would like to get another star type of player.

They have a lot of young players. I think they have a great coach and great chemistry and a great fight to them. They will win games in the 80s and have a tremendous fight about that team. They need another guy like (Isaiah) Thomas. That’s not taking away from anything they have. It’s hard to win playoff games if you don’t have that horse coming down and shifting and giving space to other players.

Analysts have been saying this about Boston's roster all summer, so McHale's thoughts aren't too surprising to hear. What did come as a bit of a shock was the former Celtic great's words about his old point guard Danny Ainge.

If there is one thing that Ainge has shown time and time again as general manager, it's his precise timing. His ability to know when to pull the trigger to shake up the roster and when to hold his cards and stay put says a lot about his patience and well-thought-out decision making. This was exemplified this summer, as Ainge had a huge basket of assets to use but decided to not make any trades and hold onto his current players and picks.

He had no intention of overpaying for talent even though he had the luxury to do so if he wanted. Ainge could have easily brought in Jimmy Butler at last year's trade deadline, but held his ground. Cleary, he takes extreme caution with every piece his franchise has.

However, McHale had some interesting words that contradict Ainge's proven patience:

Danny is doing it the right way. He’s not panicking. . . Which is the opposite of the guy I know. Danny is one of the most impulsive people I know and I’m shocked he doesn’t make a trade every week. He is a disciplined general manager which is funny because he is (a) very undisciplined person.

Wait, what? You fooled me Danny!


Follow Erik Johnson on Twitter: @erikjohnson32

Photo by Mark Halmas/Icon Sportswire