The Bash Danny Ainge thread

[0003323344]

I'm not necessarily mad at Ainge.  I completely understand why people are angry though.  They are recognizing that Ainge held all his cards, passed on George, passed on Butler, passed on Kawhi... only to find that Davis wasn't a possibility. Now, our assets are diminishing in value (outside of Tatum). Brown is a decently valued player on the verge of getting paid in a year - which subsequently drops his trade value (which is why the Pelicans didn't want a package built around him). Kings pick ended up a dud. Kyrie is on the verge of bailing in large part, because we don't have the supporting cast to contend. Meanwhile there's crap out of Ainge's control that just blew up in our face ... namely, Hayward signing a max deal and promptly having his career derailed.

You're just seeing frustrated fans coming to terms with the reality that we may be marching out a line-up of Rozier, Smart, Tatum, Morris and HOrford with Brown and Hayward off the bench. A team that generously projects to win about 35-43 games. A team that isn't likely to contend at any point in the next 5 years unless Tatum takes a leap from solid starter to NBA superstar.

What you're seeing is fans coming to grips with the fact we are stepping into irrelevance, Danny's gamble didn't pay off, and we just set back the timeline to 2021 at the earliest (if we can become a player in that free agent class).

Really, it's fine... it just sucks to come so close to feeling like you're on the verge of being a true contender - only to see yourself get kicked down to the ranks of the Pistons and Orlando Magic with no reasonable hope of contending in the near-to-distant future. I'm sure Ainge is deflated as well. Hopefully, he's got the energy to stick around and see where this goes over the next several years. NO doubt, this Summer is shaping up to be a massive bummer, but for perspective think of how a team like the Knicks is going to feel if Kemba joins the Lakers and Kyrie/Butler join the Nets.

If that's the case and the Celtics are headed towards irrelevance and the Celtics aren't contenders for 5 years minimum then if you're Danny you DO make the trade for AD even if it includes Tatum and even if it's a one year rental. . I don't feel he is close to being an NBA superstar. He took a step back in his second year and too often settles for jumpers instead of taking it to the rim. He was said to covet Davis and would do anything to get him and before him Butler. Ainge has gone from Trader Danny to Danny Dolittle.

[soulman]

this is crazy, you all have to show more respect towards our true legend Danny Ainge. I wouldn't fire him if we were the worst team in nba.

[Seymour scagnetti]

When does a rebuild end? With a title? Celtics will always try to improve, that does not mean it is a rebuild.

[C3LTSF4N]

Imagine we traded Tatum and Smart for Davis and then he went to the Lakers next year; glad that won't happen anyway.  If he was going to end up there anyway, I'd rather them lose Ball, Ingram, Hart and 3 first rounders than us lose Tatum, Smart and picks.  That's a huge swing.

[Boris Badenov]

Outside of GSW and TOR there isn't one single team in the league that's enjoyed the success we have had over the last three years. You'd think we just came off a string of 25-win seasons and were destined for another decade of them. Head over to the message boards of Minny, or the Knicks, or the Nets, or...I don't know, just about any other team in the league and see how many people feel sorry for us.

Oh and while you're at it, ask how many of those fans would trade their GMs for Danny Ainge.

And then, come back here and put a **** sock in it.

[0003323344]

Imagine we traded Tatum and Smart for Davis and then he went to the Lakers next year; glad that won't happen anyway.  If he was going to end up there anyway, I'd rather them lose Ball, Ingram, Hart and 3 first rounders than us lose Tatum, Smart and picks.  That's a huge swing.

Ball is garbage Ingram is pretty good Hart eh. The 4th pick could be a nice player the other 2 picks who knows. They got to keep Kuzma and they will likely pick up Butler Irving or Kawhi which will make them forget all about the 3 players they just traded away..

[Mahk E Mahk]

I'm hoping that I'm wrong on Tatum. By all accounts it seems that the Celtics view Tatum as a potential superstar and I don't see it. If Tatum does become a top 10 player then I will have a very different opinion on the outcome of this year than I do know.

Right now it just feels that we lost.

A championship rotation of Irving/Smart/Brown/Hayward/Morris/Horford/Davis/Baynes was in reach. So annoyingly close. That will hurt for some time. Now we have to lick our wounds, accept our situation, don't do anything rash and build in silence.

Ainge and Stevens have made many mistakes this year, but despite the damage the Celtics could be in a worse spot. And both have done too many great things to want to have them fired over this debacle.

how do you know it was in reach? danny can’t force kyrie to re-sign, and it seemed clear that AD was never going to re-sign, if traded to the c’s. the only thing truthfully “in reach” was the option to give away far too much in trade for a one year rental, who didn’t want to be here. kudos to danny for taking the long view, as opposed to a one-year, all-in bet on a championship next year.

and what does “build in silence” even mean? the handwringing by a few folks is puzzling.

I'm sure Kyrie didn't know a year ago that he wouldn't re-sign. All that went wrong in the Celtics organization this year has been a massive reason why this scenario didn't work out. That doesn't mean it was unrealistic.

Just a couple of days ago many Celtics fans would have believed that Irving and Davis could be on the team next season (and perhaps many more). And it's quite apparent that Tatum was the big eye catcher for the Pelicans, dealing Tatum + filler and some picks would have been enough to land Davis.

'Build in silence' means that we're done with making big moves for now. The league (and fans) had a lot of attention on what the Celtics would do to make the next step, I'd even argue that we were the center of the NBA (besides GSW). Now we can go back to developing the youngsters without all the rumours and expectations.

i don’t blame the c’s organization for kyrie being a difficult teammate and a culture problem. time will tell.

what fans believed has no bearing on reality.

thanks for clarifying the “build in silence” comment. however, i disagree it’s axiomatic that the AD deal signals the end of potential big deals for the c’s. the nba is a funny, fickle place. AD to the lakers could freak out a bunch of teams, spurring irrational & emotional reactions. danny operates well in this type of environment, and we have seen examples of him fleecing teams who overreact.

this is far from over.

[C3LTSF4N]

Imagine we traded Tatum and Smart for Davis and then he went to the Lakers next year; glad that won't happen anyway.  If he was going to end up there anyway, I'd rather them lose Ball, Ingram, Hart and 3 first rounders than us lose Tatum, Smart and picks.  That's a huge swing.

Ball is garbage Ingram is pretty good Hart eh. The 4th pick could be a nice player the other 2 picks who knows. They got to keep Kuzma and they will likely pick up Butler Irving or Kawhi which will make them forget all about the 3 players they just traded away..

If Davis would end up there anyway, I'm glad it didn't happen.  There's no point in fretting over it or what could be or may be or could happen.  It's done and we might as well see the positive side of it.  We still have a ton of assets and we didn't throw any away. 

[Rhyso]

I'm not necessarily mad at Ainge.  I completely understand why people are angry though.  They are recognizing that Ainge held all his cards, passed on George, passed on Butler, passed on Kawhi... only to find that Davis wasn't a possibility. Now, our assets are diminishing in value (outside of Tatum). Brown is a decently valued player on the verge of getting paid in a year - which subsequently drops his trade value (which is why the Pelicans didn't want a package built around him). Kings pick ended up a dud. Kyrie is on the verge of bailing in large part, because we don't have the supporting cast to contend. Meanwhile there's crap out of Ainge's control that just blew up in our face ... namely, Hayward signing a max deal and promptly having his career derailed.

You're just seeing frustrated fans coming to terms with the reality that we may be marching out a line-up of Rozier, Smart, Tatum, Morris and HOrford with Brown and Hayward off the bench. A team that generously projects to win about 35-43 games. A team that isn't likely to contend at any point in the next 5 years unless Tatum takes a leap from solid starter to NBA superstar.

What you're seeing is fans coming to grips with the fact we are stepping into irrelevance, Danny's gamble didn't pay off, and we just set back the timeline to 2021 at the earliest (if we can become a player in that free agent class).

Really, it's fine... it just sucks to come so close to feeling like you're on the verge of being a true contender - only to see yourself get kicked down to the ranks of the Pistons and Orlando Magic with no reasonable hope of contending in the near-to-distant future. I'm sure Ainge is deflated as well. Hopefully, he's got the energy to stick around and see where this goes over the next several years. NO doubt, this Summer is shaping up to be a massive bummer, but for perspective think of how a team like the Knicks is going to feel if Kemba joins the Lakers and Kyrie/Butler join the Nets.

[dang] if reveling in pessimistic takes was a thing, I think I just read it.

Nothing is unexpected here, most free agents don't want to play here, why would Danny throw away assets for a rental? That's a true gamble. Also all of our assets are diminishing because Brown is about to get paid? If Horford walks I'll give you that we may drop down with the Pistons and Magic though, that would be deflating.

[GreenFaith1819]

At the end of the day I'm proud of Danny.

Let's smell the roses here - Anthony Davis is NOT cut from the same cloth as KG.

Kevin Garnett longed for LAL as well, but KG's overriding love of winning and the game of Basketball itself overshadowed whatever he missed in not being dealt to LA...

KG was not starstruck...swayed by LAL's lure but fit right in BOS.

I love AD but he and KG are not the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90MtenZBABM

Blame Danny for thinking like it's 2007 again...he may have had his eyes on AD but AD never had his eyes on BOS.

Now we have agents with too much power..tampering with little to no punishment....a sports media that wants LAL to get back on top...

Blame Pres. Trump for his Fake News comments but it DOES exist....certainly NOT in the same vein as he believes but let's be real here Sports Media WANTS the Lakers back in contention.

[gouki88]

I’ll bash him if he keeps Rozier. Otherwise everything he’s done has been understandable, if regrettable in hindsight.

[C3LTSF4N]

I'm not necessarily mad at Ainge.  I completely understand why people are angry though.  They are recognizing that Ainge held all his cards, passed on George, passed on Butler, passed on Kawhi... only to find that Davis wasn't a possibility. Now, our assets are diminishing in value (outside of Tatum). Brown is a decently valued player on the verge of getting paid in a year - which subsequently drops his trade value (which is why the Pelicans didn't want a package built around him). Kings pick ended up a dud. Kyrie is on the verge of bailing in large part, because we don't have the supporting cast to contend. Meanwhile there's crap out of Ainge's control that just blew up in our face ... namely, Hayward signing a max deal and promptly having his career derailed.

You're just seeing frustrated fans coming to terms with the reality that we may be marching out a line-up of Rozier, Smart, Tatum, Morris and HOrford with Brown and Hayward off the bench. A team that generously projects to win about 35-43 games. A team that isn't likely to contend at any point in the next 5 years unless Tatum takes a leap from solid starter to NBA superstar.

What you're seeing is fans coming to grips with the fact we are stepping into irrelevance, Danny's gamble didn't pay off, and we just set back the timeline to 2021 at the earliest (if we can become a player in that free agent class).

Really, it's fine... it just sucks to come so close to feeling like you're on the verge of being a true contender - only to see yourself get kicked down to the ranks of the Pistons and Orlando Magic with no reasonable hope of contending in the near-to-distant future. I'm sure Ainge is deflated as well. Hopefully, he's got the energy to stick around and see where this goes over the next several years. NO doubt, this Summer is shaping up to be a massive bummer, but for perspective think of how a team like the Knicks is going to feel if Kemba joins the Lakers and Kyrie/Butler join the Nets.

[dang] if reveling in pessimistic takes was a thing, I think I just read it.

Nothing is unexpected here, most free agents don't want to play here, why would Danny throw away assets for a rental? That's a true gamble. Also all of our assets are diminishing because Brown is about to get paid? If Horford walks I'll give you that we may drop down with the Pistons and Magic though, that would be deflating.

A "generous" prediction of 35-43 wins is completely wild in my opinion.

[GreenFaith1819]

Danny did EVERYTHING right, here...you can't read the Superstars of today.

Kyrie is STILL in BOS, for right now. But I'd be shocked if he stays. I'd love for him to stay, though.

[Roy H.]

I think we would have AD, if Kyrie committed.

I can’t fault Ainge for that. Kyrie is pretty flaky, and apparently didn’t want to be here.

[ausbacker]

I'm not that down on not acquiring Davis (unless they can convince almost every available veteran to sign for SFA, the roster depth is putrid), I'm not convinced he has championship pedigree however, I am concerned about the apparent lack of direction the Celtics have under Ainge and Stevens. Are the Celtics rebuilding or do they believe they're in championship mode? because right now, it feels like they're having an each way bet with neither course presenting as obvious. Furthermore, the outcome of the Brooklyn trade doesn't feel anywhere near as good as it should.