Danny Ainge Talks Potential Celtics Roster Moves

Earlier today, we heard that Danny Ainge had provided injury updates on Rajon Rondo, who underwent ACL surgery yesterday, and Leandro Barbosa, who the Celtics have interested in bringing back next season. Ainge also made a few other comments to reporters, including Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald, about his plans for re-stocking the roster after the team suffered three season-ending injuries in as many weeks. Let's round up the notable comments from the Celtics president of basketball operations….

On the impact of the season-ending injuries:

"All three of them are real blows to us. First of all, we lose our star player and then Jared [Sullinger] and then Barbosa. That’s devastating. We’re short on guards now, and we have to bring someone in. We have players we like in the D-League, and we have a little more than a week before the trade deadline. And we’ll explore all of that."

On a short-term fix:

"Immediately we will probably bring someone in on a 10-day contract, and we’re going through all those names. There’s a lot of names actually, but it’s going to be very difficult to replace Leandro Barbosa…. There are guys playing all around the world, and I need to figure out when they may become available with their contracts. So there’s a lot to go through here."

On whether the team will be able to add an above-average player:

"Those guys are hard to find, someone with veteran NBA experience that has the athleticism to make an impact. There’s a lot of players out there that are good enough to play in the NBA, that could come into an NBA game today and contribute. I’m not worried about that, but to find someone who can play to Leandro’s level, to have an impact and be one of the best players on the court for a quarter like Leandro, that’s what’s going to be a challenge."

On adding a veteran vs. adding a younger player:

"We need someone that can help us more now. If there’s a decent player that could contribute some now and might have a bright future, we’d look at that as well, but I think that’s less likely at this moment. But we’d really like to get someone who could step in and play an important role right away, if we can."

On how injuries have affected the team's ability to make trades:

"The problem with trades now is we don’t have enough bodies to trade. Like, we can’t afford to trade a big for a guard. It’s not like we have an excess amount of anything. We have nine or 10 players, and we’re not trading draft picks unless someone really special becomes available."