Danny Ainge: Deep draft, just no cornerstone players

Below are a number of quotes from Danny Ainge's conference call immediately following the lottery.  Followed by my interpretations:

"There will be choices there. Kids that will have a lot of potential."

Not really saying much here.  Just indicating that they'll be picking the best player available.  Not based on need.

"There's less value in the 6th pick than in the 1st pick."

Was answering a question about trade value but he made sure to clarify it has less value in terms of who you pick as well.  He understands what the beat guys are asking him, but tries to not show his hand too much.

"This group of guys are very young and some are more ready to play than others.  That won't effect who we will pick."

I think he was making the point that a young player might not be ready to play right away and could spend some time in the D-League.  They aren't going to change who they pick based on how quickly he'll be able to contribute.

"Moving up is a possibility, moving down is a possibility, and moving out is a possibility.  We'll explore all those things."

Anything is possiblllllllllle!!!  No really.  Anything can happen, so I guess we'll just have to see.

"We were disappointed but we were prepared for this."

We all had the Bill Simmons face.

"I think this draft is deep, it just doesn't have a cornerstone player, from what I see."

What he's been saying all along.  Of course he'd rather get a higher pick, but it isn't like missing out on Duncan or LeBron or Durant.

"Our need right now is quality players. We'll look at the best player available with our 17th pick" [as well as the 6th]

Best player available, regardless of position.  Get used to hearing this.  This also means another power forward is a distinct possibility.

Ainge wasn't about to give too much away and to be fair, he probably doesn't know much about anything right now.  But the phones will start ringing and we'll see if he can make some fireworks happen or just pick the best players available and keep moving on.