I think Mannix is trying to prepare the tankalicious crowd for the surprise of their lives when the trade deadline comes and goes and the team is constructed exactly the way it is right now.
Danny Ainge does not make trades to have an end objective of losing games in the here and now. He won't do it. He makes trades to win for other objectives like long term assets, lower salary and better talent. He doesn't trade to lose games. If he wanted that he would simply tell Stevens to sit Rondo, Bradley, Sullinger, Bass and Green for the rest of the year and play everyone else.
No, the trade deadline is probably going to be very quiet in Boston and I think some of those in the know are just trying to let those who believe tank management is going to happen know that tank management isn't going to happen.
I actually take a different appraisal from a quiet deadline. You think it's to placate the tankers. I think it's to prep the "we're one star away" folks from being let down.
Our team is bad. If the roster stays the same, we'll still be bad. Likely, we'll end up in the lottery, most likely with a guaranteed top 7 pick. I fail to see how that's not the end goal of tanking a season.
The fact that Ainge doesn't need to trade away players in order to have an abysmal season speaks more to his roster construction in the last off-season than the fact that he's not trying to intentionally lose games - this season's team has been built to lose games since it's inception.
edit--I still maintain that Mannix is a mouthbreather.
Umm..I am not sure where you get that I think a quiet season is because Danny is trying to placate tankers. Not sure I said that at all and I know Ithe thought never came to my mind.
What I said is that Mannix might be trying to let tankers know that there might be a quiet deadline.
That's it. That's pretty much all that is relevant in what I said.
What I think a quiet deadline means is really simple, I think it means Danny just never found a trade he liked that would net him either a better player in return, a better asset in return(draft pick, or a player that provides better future financial flexibility.
That's what I think a quiet deadline means.