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Danny Talks About The Roster

Here are some quotes from Danny Ainge from Bulpett's article this weekend.

The question is whether the club will get from 16 players to 15 by a cut or a trade.

"We don’t know," said Ainge as he watched the players go through Day 5 of training camp at Salve Regina University. "I’ve had many conversations (with other teams), but I have no idea what’s real or what might happen or what might not happen. I know who has value and who doesn’t.

"Is there anything I need to do to tweak the roster? No. I’m planning on this being our team. If we feel like we can improve our team, we’ll look to do that."

Asked if he’d still like to have a veteran big man backing up Kendrick Perkins, Ainge said, "I don’t think so, no."

Sure.  I don't mean to sound harsh or call Danny a liar or anything.  But right now, you simply can't believe everything he says about the roster.  Or maybe he's just telling the truth from a certain point of view like Obie-Wan.

Think about it:  He admits that he's having conversations all the time with other teams.  If you were talking trade with anyone, would you tell the world who you were going to cut?  Would you tell the world that you desperately needed help in the post (and would overpay someone to get that help)?  No.  You would say that you are prefectly happy with the team you have and feel no pressure at all to make any changes.  You can always point to the banner and say "looks like we did fine last year."

This strategy also has the side benefit of encouraging all the players trying to make your roster.  Unless you are trying to light a fire under someone, it is best to give them praise and talk about how they are coming along fine and will be very good players in the league.

The bottom line is that this isn't last year.  Kedrick's health has to be a concern even if he'll be 100% by the first game because you never know when he's going down again.  O'Bryant may be a diamond in the rough, but you don't go from bust to solid 2nd option overnight.

So while Doc may be happy with 4 point guards and Danny may be happy with what we have at center, I would bet that they'd be a lot happier with another solid big man in the rotation.

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