Danny Ainge appeared on Toucher & Rich today… and among the topics discussed was the “lack of a superstar”… and whether the Celtics will be able to attract a premier free agent or find one through the draft. Part of his answer included a shot at what I assume is the Philadelphia 76’ers when he said…
“You can be like some franchises and have nine straight years of top-10 picks and still not be relevant,” Ainge said. “So I think that, there’s … we’re trying to be the best that we can be.”
Zing!
Ainge will deny that he’s taking a shot at any particular team there, but if it’s not them, they’re certainly in the team picture of shitty teams that can’t draft their way out of the cellar. And because I hate Philly’s plan sooooo much, I’m just going to project my rage onto Ainge’s comments and move forward.
The superstar talk is going to be a running theme in Boston until one comes to Boston… or until one develops here. We’ll have to endure the talk until one of those two things actually happens. As for the latter…
And while all of them as well as the rest of their Celtics teammates have specific roles on this team, there’s no way to tell if any of them could develop into being the kind of difference-making player that would strengthen Boston’s hopes of becoming a title contender.
“Who knows if one of them could develop and become a superstar player?” Ainge said.
I’m assuming that he’s talking about Marcus Smart there… and not just for the chance to promote the fact that Jay King and I discussed this exact topic in our latest Rainin’ J’s podcast (OK, maybe a little). But the, ahem, Smart money is on Marcus, a sixth overall pick, to become that level of a player. We predicted yesterday that he’d become a 16 point, 5 assist guy (and boy did he come close to that last night). If he can do that in year two… the who knows what kind of player he can become in years three and four?
