Ainge has a great drafting track record relative to his peers.
Hogwash
The Ringer ran an article that quantified the best drafting teams since 2004, in relation to Draft Value (player’s actual performance) vs. Expectation (player’s expected performance based on draft position). The Celtics came in 4th: https://www.theringer.com/2021/7/28/22597310/nba-draft-expectations
Article is deeply flawed. First example: Gerald Green is not even close to the "Most Below Expectation" pick Ainge made since 2004.
I agree the methodology is flawed. To enlighten those, a major issue is that Fab Melo is obviously the most below-expectation pick. We all know that. However, the Ringer is using wins above replacement in a player’s first four years as its metric, which is a counting stat. So a guy like Gerald Green, who was legitimately not good in his first four years (and even bounced out of the league for a bit after they were over) but who got fair amount of minutes due to being on rebuilding teams will have a very bad (negative) WAR. But a Fab Melo, who couldn’t even see the court and was out of the league after a season, will have a better WAR. Still negative, but less negative because you can only get so low with 36 career minutes.
That said, the methodology is flawed the same way for all teams, and over 17 drafts most teams are going to have their share of Gerald Greens who have bad performance with significant minutes, and Fab Melos, who have worse performances in virtually no minutes. Accordingly, while flawed, it may not introduce a large bias if it affects all teams in similar ways.
A point in Ainge’s favor: the Celtics had an opening day lineup comprised of entirely their own first round selections. They were the only team to have done so this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if that isn’t something that happens most years. Yes, Horford was out which bumped Grant into the starting lineup, but all the same, they were able to field a competitive lineup featuring 5 firsts selected by the team. Additionally, 6 of the 9 players in our core rotation are former Ainge firsts. A lot of teams did worse than the Celtics over the years.