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Ainge on draft, Garnett

Print | Comments () Posted by Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff June 23, 2009 10:38 AM

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Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes the team will improve next season -- without adding significant players through the NBA draft or trades.

In fact, Thursday night's Celtic activity during the draft "could be pretty boring," Ainge said during a press conference this morning in Waltham, "compared to what we've been through the last few years on draft day, it could be very boring. We have a very good team right now and that's a good position to be in -- that we're drafting this late in the draft, we have good young prospects, half our roster is under 25 years old. We have a very young roster."

Ainge said no player is "untradeable," but the Celtics are seeking to maintain their star players and, possibly, add a free agent.

"We've won 128 games in the last two years," Ainge said. "This year, we won 62 and had major injuries. We're a championship contender, for sure, in the last few years and we feel like we're going to be better this year -- we'll have a better team on the court."

Ainge said that Kevin Garnett is recovering well from knee surgery and should be ready for training camp in the fall. He also noted that Leon Powe, who suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during the playoffs, was improving following surgery but probably would not be ready for the start of the season.