Danny Ainge made it known that the Milwaukee Bucks not have been on the same page with the Celtics on a competing offer Boston had made for Bucks guard Jrue Holiday. In fact, they were in completely different books, as Ainge cleared up the confusion, via  Dean Deveney of Heavy.:

Holiday is one of the best two-way guards in the league, but Boston offering three first-round picks was apparently untrue. Those old reports however may have convinced the Bucks to push through with their gargantuan offer to the New Orleans Pelicans for the one-time All-Star. They eventually ended up surrendering three first-round picks, and two future pick swaps.

As it stands today, Ainge and the Celtics have a $28.5 million traded player exception to work with due to former Celtic Gordon Hayward signing with the Charlotte Hornets this offseason. With the trade deadline approaching very quickly, the question is whether Ainge is going to pull the trigger and actively pursue a player that can help the Celtics not only this season but in the future.

Holiday would have been an excellent addition to the Celtics roster, as he would play alongside All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as well as Marcus Smart. Since trading for Holiday is no longer an option, the Celtics need to pursue a player that can not only work well with Tatum and Brown on the offensive end but can provide energy on the defensive end.

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The fact of the matter is the Celtics are not the team they were last season. Though they are fourth in the Eastern Conference, their 19-17 record has led many to question whether they would be able to win a series in the playoffs. The season is only halfway done, and teams such as the New York Knicks, Miami Heat, and Charlotte Hornets have the potential to overtake Boston and push them towards the seventh or eighth seed.

Armed with that huge trade exception, Ainge needs to act fast in order to save the Celtics' season.