Brad Stevens Denies Telling Cedric Maxwell He Wouldn't Want DeMarcus Cousins On Celtics
BOSTON (CBS) -- 98.5 The Sports Hub's Celtics color analyst Cedric Maxwell made some headlines recently when he said that C's head coach Brad Stevens told play-by-play man Sean Grande that he wouldn't want DeMarcus Cousins.
The talented, but troubled, Cousins was traded to the New Orleans Hornets shortly after the NBA All-Star game, a move that upset many Celtics fans because the center was traded for next to nothing. Max's comments, made to 98.5 The Sports Hub's Matt McCarthy and Greg Dickerson the Monday following the deal, didn't help ease those frustrations.
However, when Stevens joined Zolak & Bertrand for his weekly interview on Wednesday, he told the hosts that conversation never happened.
"That was never a conversation, that I remember," said Stevens. "I obviously can't get further into anything because I can't comment on guys on other teams."
The Celtics stood pat at last week's NBA trade deadline, though Stevens admitted that he thought the team was going to make a "smaller" move when heading into practice that morning.
"You never know, because you never know what other team's prices will be," the coach explained. "In a lot of cases you don't get to the third phone call where you come up with a true package or price. ... But I know Danny [Ainge] was really active and really diligent. One of the things I've come to admire about him is he's really measured in his decision-making."
The Celtics missed out on a chance to add some rebounding help on the free agent market on Tuesday night when Andrew Bogut decided to join the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers. The C's could certainly use a boost in the paint, but it doesn't sound like there is anything in the works to address that area of need.
"We're always looking at what is appropriate to add to our roster and how it impacts our roster. We've talked about diff guys who are available on the free agent market right now, and how do they impact your team and rotations, positional needs, if they go into a position where we have a lot of guys already, do they add something that is very unique against the teams you're hopeful to be competitive against," said Stevens, noting the Celtics already have 15 players on their roster. "Some guys we have talked about, and there are others who are really good players that we haven't spent much time on, and I'll leave it at that."
Stevens wouldn't say if the team has any interest in former Celtics Jared Sullinger, who was recently released by the Phoenix Suns after being in a trade package from the Toronto Raptors for P.J. Tucker, but said the power forward departed Boston on good terms last summer.
"I thought the biggest thing with choosing to renounce Jared, which was a hard decision to make, was signing Al [Horford]," he said. "[Horford] was going to move into that starting spot and play the majority of those minutes, so we decided that was the right move at that time."
Listen to the full interview, including Stevens' thoughts on Wednesday night's big matchup with the Cavaliers:
