Danny Ainge: No Recent Effort to Add Jimmy Butler

Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Friday that while he had “many conversations” with the Chicago Bulls in recent years about the availability of Jimmy Butler, the two teams did not engage in trade discussions in the days before the three-time All-Star was dealt to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night.

“We knew [Butler being traded] was likely. Quite honestly, I thought that he was going to be traded last summer,” said Ainge. “He’s a terrific player.

“But we’ve had many conversations with [the Bulls] over the last couple years. We just couldn’t get anything done.”

Asked whether any of those conversations had occurred in the past week, Ainge replied, “No. No.”

Source: Chris Forsberg of ESPN