Danny Ainge Says He Doesn't Think Celtics Are Good Enough to Win Championship

After the Boston Celtics suffered their 11th loss in 17 games Wednesday, general manager Danny Ainge offered a blunt assessment of the team's championship aspirations.

Appearing Thursday on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher and Rich (h/t Sean Deveney of Heavy.com), Ainge was asked if he thinks the Celtics are good enough to win a title.

"I do not," he answered.

The Celtics came into the season with high expectations after reaching the Eastern Conference Finals in 2019-20.

While their roster thinned out as Gordon Hayward, Enes Kanter and Brad Wanamaker left in the offseason, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker returned. However, Walker missed the first 11 games recovering from knee issues.

Tatum has continued his strong play after performing at an MVP level down the stretch last season. Brown has evolved into one of the best shooting guards in the NBA.

The Celtics looked like one of the Eastern Conference's elite teams with an 8-3 start, but they have gone 6-11 since Jan. 17, including a 122-114 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.

Boston sits in the No. 5 seed in the East but is only two games ahead of the No. 10 Hawks, who hold the final spot in the postseason play-in tournament. Head coach Brad Stevens has time to turn things around, but he's been unable to find answers for the past month.