Danny Ainge messed up

[Chris22]

The Celtics are in first place and have a top four pick in the draft.
Danny messed up?
No.

[mr. dee]

Some posters are being a little hard on the OP. I think acquiring Butler or George would have been tough. As has been discussed, the asking price was exorbitant, reportedly including the BKN pick and three of AB, Crowder, Brown, Smart.

Danny not making a move for one of those guys shouldn't really be questioned, but Ibaka or Noel (or even Cousins) were definitely obtainable for reasonable prices - at the very least PJ Tucker might have excited some folks. I am a Rozier fan, but for DA to say that he didn't want to include 'valuable' assets like Rozier for a player like Ibaka is a bit perplexing.

No, its not really. First, Danny wanted Ibaka too but resigning him for next year will really cripple cap flexibility to sign max free agents. Rozier still have more than a year left and won't eat cap space next off season, in contrast to Ibaka who is an impending free agent and will cost money to keep. Ibaka wants to play for a team that is committed on resigning him.

I think it was also the same case with Tucker.

[Vermont Green]

I don't think that acquiring George or Butler was realistic or something you can say "Danny messed up".  Those would have been tough trades.  Cousins seemed like a more doable trade based on what went down but that would have had another whole set of complications.

What I believe Danny could have done is a trade along the lines of Ibaka.  Now CLE traded (or I guess signed but did a trade to open up a spot I think) for Bogut and that sure didn't turn out well and Ibaka hasn't made much difference in TOR so far (but probably will help them in the playoffs) but it seemed like he could have picked up a big without gutting our team or future assets.

I just think Danny is taking the long view.  He did not want to give up any good future value just to win one more round in the playoffs this year.  I suspect he tried many angles but teams just didn't offer the right deal in his mind.  Overall, I am fine with that.  I am looking forward to a team of:

Fultz
Smart
Brown
Zizic
BKN 2018 Pick

with a really good bench (Rozier, Yabusele, etc.), all on good contracts.  Plus we can trade Horford in another year for other good young players.

[Moranis]

i suck at titles, but i don't think my post was that bad

Its an interesting topic.

I myself have been thinking, if we lose in say 7 games to Cleveland,s or does it shine a light does it validate Ainge for sticking with his guy on Ainge letting an opporunity to pursue a title pass by.

I mean not making a move at the deadline was 1 of 3 things.

1. We are more than one piece away aka I dont believe in this core
2. We dont want a 3 year window of decent chances at a title. We want a dynasty. aka basketball hubris
3. We wanted to add a guy like Butler or Goerge but prices were too ridiculous.

hopefully it was #3.

our best chances of winning a title are with this team this year. there is no way that we gave up 2-3 8man rotation guys and a pick(and that was the price to pay for a superstar) and that we would have kept the chemistry.
look at toronto, everyone was heads over heels when they got ibaka and what did that get them.
right now we have a legit chance of making the finals, competing, and the best part is that we get to pick 1-3 next summer.
i guess some people can't deal with the fact that we have overachieved for the last 3 years, and everyone is in the win now mode, when in fact, that mode kicks in next year IMHO.

Toronto's addition of Ibaka has been terrific for them? what are you talking about?

Toronto's success despite losing Lowry can largely be attributed to Ibaka's immediate acclimation and success.

When Toronto traded for Ibaka, they were 4 games behind the Celtics. Today they are 3 games behind the Celtics. Just want to throw that out there when people talk about how successful Toronto has been in adding a player as compared to the Celtics who added nobody.

they also don't have Lowry.

[JohnBoy65]

I would say the only true disappointment I have in Danny is night trading for PJ Tucker. He is playing really well in Toronto, and I think we could have easily beat Toronto's package without losing any rotational players.

[Moranis]

I was a big advocate for making some minor moves to strengthen the front court, but then when you see what Cousins went for, that was a huge miss.  Cleveland would have no answer for Cousins.  He would have been worth the risk.  Outside of that, Noel and PJ Tucker went pretty cheap.  Each would have helped.  Those minor moves seemed like no brainers to me and I was disappointed Boston didn't make any.

[CoachBo]

This one, by the standards of Ainge's lackluster draft evaluations, is a venal sin, not a mortal one. But not by failing to land George or Butler. By failing to land a rebounder.

[manl_lui]

while i get why some people are upset at Ainge for not making any sorts of move at the deadline but seriously? we are #1 seed at this time and have a better record than last. That in itself is an improvement. I mean perhaps Ainge was just confident in Zizic and Yabu. But come on, we're a few games away from finishing the season, on pace to get 50 wins and still get 1st seed...at least appreciate that

[Alleyoopster]

while i get why some people are upset at Ainge for not making any sorts of move at the deadline but seriously? we are #1 seed at this time and have a better record than last. That in itself is an improvement. I mean perhaps Ainge was just confident in Zizic and Yabu. But come on, we're a few games away from finishing the season, on pace to get 50 wins and still get 1st seed...at least appreciate that

Most everyone appreciates that. It's just that I don't think Danny expected this team to be Championship caliber so soon. If he did, then I'm sure he would have made a move. 

[spikelovetheCelts]

The Celtics are in first place and have a top four pick in the draft.
Danny messed up?
No.

One title or 4 titles with building through  the draft. we can sign a max too this summer and He could be Durant you never know. Losing no picks. Plus Brown and Smart are rising. Thomas and Bradley have not peaked. We have two rookies who have potential that have not played a minute for us and a great all around player vet in Horford. We are fine!!!

[Celtics4ever]

  Cleveland would have no answer for Cousins.

Cousins has not been the chosen one for NO. 

In fact, the Pelicans’ offensive rating with Cousins and Davis on the court at the same time would make for one of the 10 worst scoring offenses in modern NBA history.  That’s by no means an exaggeration. New Orleans scores 10 fewer points per 100 possessions with its Big Two than this season’s worst offense, the Philadelphia 76ers, who are atrocious in their own right.

And the Pels struggle regardless of which three players Gentry puts around his big-man tandem, for reasons most anyone could have predicted. When Cousins and Davis are on the court together, the Pelicans’ spacing collapses into a black hole, sucking everyone and anything into the middle of the court.

http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/demarcus-cousins-anthony-davis-new-orleans-pelicans-record-bad-struggling-alvin-gentry-fired-hot-seat-031417

I do think we could have adjusted better than NO.     NO has too much of the same thing for it to work.

[Ilikesports17]

i suck at titles, but i don't think my post was that bad

Its an interesting topic.

I myself have been thinking, if we lose in say 7 games to Cleveland,s or does it shine a light does it validate Ainge for sticking with his guy on Ainge letting an opporunity to pursue a title pass by.

I mean not making a move at the deadline was 1 of 3 things.

1. We are more than one piece away aka I dont believe in this core
2. We dont want a 3 year window of decent chances at a title. We want a dynasty. aka basketball hubris
3. We wanted to add a guy like Butler or Goerge but prices were too ridiculous.

hopefully it was #3.

our best chances of winning a title are with this team this year. there is no way that we gave up 2-3 8man rotation guys and a pick(and that was the price to pay for a superstar) and that we would have kept the chemistry.
look at toronto, everyone was heads over heels when they got ibaka and what did that get them.
right now we have a legit chance of making the finals, competing, and the best part is that we get to pick 1-3 next summer.
i guess some people can't deal with the fact that we have overachieved for the last 3 years, and everyone is in the win now mode, when in fact, that mode kicks in next year IMHO.

Toronto's addition of Ibaka has been terrific for them? what are you talking about?

Toronto's success despite losing Lowry can largely be attributed to Ibaka's immediate acclimation and success.

When Toronto traded for Ibaka, they were 4 games behind the Celtics. Today they are 3 games behind the Celtics. Just want to throw that out there when people talk about how successful Toronto has been in adding a player as compared to the Celtics who added nobody.

they also don't have Lowry.

Thank you.

They have been better than the Celtics since the deadline despite losing arguably their best player!

That shows how much of an impact a guy like Ibaka can have. not to mention that Ibaka isnt in the same league as Paul George or Jimmy Butler.

[Ilikesports17]

The Celtics are in first place and have a top four pick in the draft.
Danny messed up?
No.

he isnt perfect.

saying Danny is an idiot or Danny has done a bad job is ridiculous.

Ainge is one of the best in the game and he has done a terrific job in this rebuild.


that does not preclude him from making mistakes.

[Evantime34]

I would have liked Danny to add a big, since watching Tyler Zeller on the floor makes me crazy.

In retrospect, I would have preferred the C's deal Rozier and the Clippers pick for Ibaka, but I'm not sure that beats Orlando's offer. I think Tucker would have helped as well, but Steve Bulpett was on Celtics beat after the deadline and indicated that Boston had a better offer for Tucker that Phoenix didn't take for whatever reason.

I'm not sure who else moved at the deadline that I wanted the C's to acquire. So I'm not sure there were a ton of realistic options for Ainge.

[iadera]

Neither Paul nor Butler move the needle that much. Boogie Cousins, well that is another matter.

Probably, but also, to bring them (one of them) we would have probably been forced to give way too much in return. So, another question would be, who would have been playing next to George or Butler, in case that trade realy happened. We can only guess.

The thing that I am sorry for is that Danny did not try to bring someone like Ibaka or P.J.Tucker or any rental that could make us at least a bit stronger in playoffs. Especialy in the paint.