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Danny Ainge: Celtics To 'Go About Our Business' As If They Are Acquiring Big-Name Free Agents

BOSTON (CBS) -- Celtics president Danny Ainge isn't in the tampering business, but don't tell that to people who saw him sitting next to Kevin Durant's mom.

While Ainge wouldn't elaborate on the Celtics' plans regarding free agency this upcoming offseason (because why would he?), he did say they plan to act as if they will be able to land a big name from the pending free agent pool, which potentially includes Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant. The superstar Thunder forward said recently that he likes Boston "a lot," which predictably got much of the city excited about the prospects of Durant donning Celtics green.

Despite the inherent uncertainty involved in courting and signing free agents, Ainge told Toucher & Rich (with Ryan Johnston and Dan Roche filling in) that it was best for the Celtics to operate on the assumption that they can make it happen.

"There's just no way to know [whether free agents want to come to Boston], but we certainly will go about our business as if we do," Ainge said. "That's why we retain cap space ... We're trying to upgrade our team all the time ... We haven't given up [just because a major signing] hasn't happened. We still will try to do that until it does happen."

After Wednesday night's loss to the Thunder, Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas said the Celtics played "soft as tissue paper." Ainge refuted Thomas' comments, saying "I don't think our team is soft at all ... To have the personnel that we have and the lack of size we have ... and to be the No. 3 defensive team in the league, is anything but soft."

Ainge also talked about Jae Crowder's injury status and what most players ultimately want from their team, regardless of the city in which they sign. Listen to the full podcast below:

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