Danny Ainge's Celtics have progressed from "good" to "really good" - still not great?


My past involved interviews of criminal suspects, so I learned to pay attention to certain words and phrases. I doubt Danny Ainge has ever committed a crime in his entire life, but I do pay close attention to certain things he says.

In May of last year, Danny indicated (per NESN's Cameron McDonough), "We have a lot of good players, but we need some great ones". At that time, he already had Al Horford in the fold and was soon to have Gordon Hayward via free agency and Kyrie Irving by trade.

Fast forward to yesterday, when Ainge was heard to say (per Boston.Com's Adam Himmelsbach):

"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.”

Yesterday, Danny never said that he felt he had some of the great players he said he needed a year ago. Just a matter of semantics? Maybe, but Ainge does choose his words rather carefully. I agree with Danny that the current team as it sits right now has the talent to win it all. But that is never a guarantee.

So does he feel that he still does not have that great superstar to put his team over the top? Quite possibly. Free agency starts late tonight. and the NBA landscape can change significantly in the next several weeks. Trader Danny never totally will be satisfied with his squad, and will always look to improve it. As Danny said yesterday (per Boston.com's Adam Himmelsbach): “I feel like there’s always things we can get better at, sure,” See what I mean?

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Christopher Evans/Boston Herald