Grade Danny as the Celtics GM.

[Csfan1984]

B Overall grade
Drafting B
FA C+
Trades B-
Staff choices B+
Media A-

[jdpapa3]

Would have to go A-. In a league with 1 title to go around for 30 teams, I actually feel we were a bit unlucky to only have one banner in the last 10 years. That's GM'ing, there.

[Chris22]

Danny has done a good job. I give him an A.

Missed on resigning Bradley, not signing Tony Allen, and not drafting DeAndre Jordan.

[Roy H.]

A-.  He delivered us a championship, and we were legit contenders for half a decade.

He's had some notable missteps, but overall he has done his job well.

[clover]

B++

[Neurotic Guy]

Tough to grade someone on something that you know far less about than the person you are grading.   The OP is on point that there is so much that fans don't know that goes into the daily work of being an NBA GM.

My perceptions are the following:
1. Danny is smart.  I suspect that his basketball knowledge and GM-ing/business knowledge is comparable to the best GMs in the NBA.
2. Danny is crafty and creative.  I think he tries to work all angles, even if they don't work out.
3. Danny is a hard worker.  He impresses me as someone who is constantly thinking about his job, and constantly working at making the Celtics better -- sometimes for the short-term and sometimes for the long-term.
4. Danny is flexible, resilient, and realistic.  He can make mistakes and bounce back.  He is able to go down a road, see it's not working, and make the best of the situation.  He can deal with the reality of the marketplace even when the results may be dispappointing, unexpected or unpopular.
5. Danny is not afraid to take educated risks.   

It also should be noted that winning an NBA title is extremely difficult.  Since 1980 (35 years), only 9 franchises have won an NBA title.  By my count, 17 of the 30 current NBA franchises have never won a title in their team's history (nearly all of these teams have not seen an NBA Finals either).   Since Danny became the C's GM, Celtics have been to two Finals and won one.   

It should also be noted there are two distinct avantages that occur in the NBA:
1.  Warm weather franchises have a huge advantage in free agency.  The LA Lakers in particular, as both a warm weather and flagship franchise, need only to be smart enough to free cap space in order to rebuild (they'll always be back in the thick of things within 5 years).

2. The best NBA players win championships.  Franchises lucky enough to draft or retain services of MJ, Jabbar, Bird, Magic, Hakeem, Duncan, Shaq and Kobe have accounted for 27 of the last 35 championships.

Danny is doing great.

[Sketch5]

Danny has done a good job. I give him an A.

Missed on resigning Bradley, not signing Tony Allen, and not drafting DeAndre Jordan.

To be fare, Bradley's contract might not end up being that bad with the new CBA. I think his contract will end up being like what a 5 or 6 million dollar contract is right now. It hurts this year in trades, but will be more reasonable in the next couple of years.

Tony Allen wanted more than DA wanted to give up and have flexablity, yeah maybe a mistake, but maybe DA was trying to line something up, or maybe he new the big 3 era was almost done and didn't want to tie up money with contracts. Didn't work out well, but who knew then.

A lot of people passed on Jordan, and we already had Perk who was still developing on a contending team. This may have been as much Doc not wanting to deal with a developing center while contending than DA missing out.

I think FAB was the biggest draft miss. But he did get Sully which gave him a chance on taking a player that needed a lot of development. And to be fare, DA has most of his picks in the late teens into the 20's. Thats a lot of luck landing a good player in that range. We'll have to see how Smart developes, and Young could be one of the steels in the draft if he can bring his D-League scoring into the NBA.

People also complain about not moving KG and PP sooner. I'm not sure he would have gotten a better package out of them. I mean 3 unprotected picks from a team that could be crap those years, and a chance to swap in an other. Rondo maybe could have gotten more, but I think he was dealing with time and the ability to move those picks in Feb. Plus Rondo's value may not have gone up much more considering that team would be able to just sign him in a couple of months after the deadline. So get a pick,a big TE and maybe Crowder finds a home here.

Over all B+, but could get to an A by the deadline or draft. 

[aingeforthree]

'A' grade.

Inherited hot garbage.
Hired two great coaches.
Built a champion.
Legit Contenders for at least 4 years.
Has accumulated more ammo for a 'rebuilding' team than I've ever seen in my lifetime.

He's darn good.

[piercetruth34]

I think DA is one of the better GM's around.  What I like about DA is he is willing to take chances and doesn't get swayed by hype too much and I s a pretty practical common sense GM.  He also has a good eye for talent.  Weird thing is I usually see things like he does so I like him except I'm not the GM.  I give him an A-/B+ though there are certain things where I wish he would push the envelope a little more and be a bit more loyal to guys actually.  Especially when we had KG, Ray and Pierce I thought he could have gotten a bit more creative with making moves to get us over the top.  I was never a fan of letting tony allen walk and signing shaq and that stuff.  He explored and hung onto Rondo as long as he could too but thought he could have gotten a bit more creative there too and pushed Rondo a bit more.  I also wasn't a huge fan in how the Antoine Walker situation was handled.  Those are tough decisions though.

What I like about Danny is how he drafts.  He seems to find the guys I want him to in drafts and doesn't fall for hype that way.  Marcus Smart was a great pick and so was KO and a lot of his picks.  I was right on board with that stuff.  He was spot on with last years draft and how overhyped it was.

If anything DA shows a willingness to explore and do what he needs to do though.

[prestico23]

Danny has been one of the better GM's out there. He's made some questionable choices but no GM is perfect (outside perhaps of RC Buford) but he's done more good than bad. He's a solid B+

+
Garnett/Allen trades
Fleecing Brooklyn
Drafting Rondo
Drafting Sullinger
Drafting Perkins
Brad Stevens

-
Giddens/Fab Melo etc
Rondo trade
Perkins Trade
Not resigning Tony Allen


I can't fault him for Terry because I backed the signing at the time. Overall Danny got us a championship and a half decade of contention. That's more than most GM's can say in the league.

[KungPoweChicken]

One of his biggest and least talked about mistakes was trading a lottery pick for Sebastian Telfair. All in all, I'd still give him a B+, though.

[Fafnir]

One of his biggest and least talked about mistakes was trading a lottery pick for Sebastian Telfair. All in all, I'd still give him a B+, though.

Eh, he also dumped a bad contract and got a contract with one less year on it. That deal was bad but worked out is why it isn't remembered much. Because that big expiring ended up making the KG deal possible. Clearly though Telfair wasn't worth trading for.

[Tr1boy]

A++ now.  Somehow got a 1st , 2nd a some decent young prospects for Rajon "I don't play defense" Rondo

[greg683x]

One of his biggest and least talked about mistakes was trading a lottery pick for Sebastian Telfair. All in all, I'd still give him a B+, though.

I think a lot of people forget that because the players we most likely would have taken are out of the league now and that he swindled Rondo out of Phoenix in the same draft.

Still a bad trade, but there were no consequences for it (yeah brandon roy was great for a few years, but his knee was red flagged, and we saw why).  Factor in Rondo and that draft was a net positive.

[BballTim]

One of his biggest and least talked about mistakes was trading a lottery pick for Sebastian Telfair. All in all, I'd still give him a B+, though.

  You have to consider that he also traded Raef for Theo in that trade and saved (IIRC) 20+ million in future salaries, not to mention paving the way for the KG trade.