Danny Ainge opens up on Celtics’ James Harden trade talks with Toucher and Rich

Celtics president of basketball ops Danny Ainge joined Toucher and Rich Thursday morning to talk hoops. The big question for Ainge, in the wake of the blockbuster James Harden trade to the Brooklyn Nets, is how hard the Celtics tried to get him.

Ainge admitted that he talked to the Rockets about a potential Harden deal. But as illustrated by what the Nets gave up to get Harden, Ainge was understandably reluctant to pay the package it would've taken to get him to Boston.

"Yeah, we had conversations regarding James, not recently but yeah, we did have conversations," Ainge said. "We had numerous talks, but the price really wasn't changing. The price was really high for us, and it was something we really didn't want to do ... I think unanimously, we decided it wasn't time for us and it wasn't the price."

Ainge also discussed the Celtics' chances of playing Friday night amid postponements and uncertainty as COVID-19 invades NBA locker rooms.

Listen above for the full Danny Ainge interview on Toucher and Rich. T&R airs every weekday from 6-10 a.m. on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Listen to full-hour podcasts here at 985TheSportsHub.com.