Well, here’s something.

Celtics President Danny Ainge went on Boston radio and said he was close to pulling off a blockbuster trade – what front office exec says this when he doesn’t pull it off? – involving the Nets’ 2016 first round pick, which the Celtics own, but gave no further details. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reports that the deal was with the Sixers for Jahlil Okafor:

Danny Ainge clearly doesn’t. And that is healthy. It’s why he spent the last several days trying to get the kind of magnetic player needed to lift the Celtics from the NBA’s middle earth. While a league source has indicated the late target Ainge has referred to in radio interviews was Philadelphia’s Jahlil Okafor, Ainge has turned silent on the matter.

From NESN:

In an interview with WBZ NewsRadio’s Adam Kaufman on Friday, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge revealed Boston came “very close” to making a blockbuster deal that would have involved the team moving the Brooklyn Nets’ 2016 first-round pick. Ainge said the other team backed out at the last minute but wouldn’t reveal what team it was. Yet the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett reported Friday night, citing a league source, that Ainge’s target was none other than Philadelphia 76ers rookie Jahlil Okafor. Bulpett added the potential deal for Okafor “was dead on Wednesday” and that “the locals (Boston) left the porch light on, but nothing returned to life.”

That is slightly mind-bending, given the fact that Sam Hinkie told reporters earlier on Friday that the Sixers weren’t particularly close to any other deals besides the one they made for a second round pick, and that Okafor, who had been rumored earlier in the week to be involved in trade talks, and Nerlens Noel are “a great pairing.” He did, however, say there was a fair bit of interest in both players.

I see two possibilities:

Ainge is blowing smoke and overselling the fact that, like, he tots almost pulled off a big deal. Hinkie is full of shit and couldn’t restrain himself from what projects to be a high draft pick but was told by Jerry Colangelo and Joshua Harris that he would be castrated and filleted with a rusty shoe horn if he dared to trade what is, to date, the Sixers’ most impressive fleshy being for yet another asset.

I’m kind of leaning towards option 1, but 2… well, 2 is more fun.