Atlantic Notes: Davis, Ainge, Brown, Poeltl

Celtics play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman isn’t a believer in the Anthony Davis to Boston trade rumors. Speaking on the Toucher and Rich radio show, Gorman said neither Davis or the Pelicans are interested in a trade. “Joel Meyers, who’s been around the league forever and is a great play-by-play guy who does New Orleans, [told Brian Scalabrine] and I  . . . ‘No shot [Davis is] leaving.’ There’s no shot he’s leaving. He is anchored to New Orleans, loves New Orleans, loves living there and wants to ultimately be the leader of a good team in New Orleans,'” Gorman said. “Well, good luck to him if that’s the case, because that’s going to take a while.” Gorman also doesn’t think DeMarcus Cousins or James Harden would be a good fit with the Celtics.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

  • Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge speeded up the rebuilding process by making 19 trades since coach Brad Stevens was hired in July of 2013, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. Forsberg analyzes all 19 deals and finds that Ainge got at least equal value in return every time.
  • A coaching change in Philadelphia would be a mistake, argues Marcus Hayes of The Philadelphia Daily News. Hayes states that Brett Brown can’t be judged fairly until Joel Embiid has time to develop his game, the minutes restrictions are lifted on Embiid and Jahlil Okafor and the Sixers acquire a decent starting point guard.
  • Jakob Poeltl and fellow rookie Pascal Siakam have already been used as starters by the Raptors, notes Spencer Davies of Amicohoops. It’s a unique position for young players to get that opportunity on a team coming off the conference finals, and Poeltl addresses that topic in a wide-ranging interview. “It’s great for us to be out there and get the chance to learn,” he said. “Obviously, we had some injury problems — like, that played into it — but it’s great for [coach Dwane Casey] to be like, ‘Okay you know, I’ll give these young guys a chance. Let’s see what they’ve got.’ I think that shows a lot about him.”
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