Thank you Danny Ainge

[GreenlyGreeny]

Danny was good, not great. Definitely appreciated the many good years/hopes he brought us, and our one great year. Many of us are grateful that he gracefully retired before he embarrassed himself. He’ll always own 17, so he ought to be proud.

[Roy H.]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

[Kiorrik]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I always wonder how many people would give their "opinions" on Danny, to his face.

Like if it really came to it and they met him.

[td450]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I would put it another way. He was great up until after the offseason after the Kyrie trade. He had considerable bad luck from then on, but he also had a bunch of chances to navigate through it, and he couldn't do it. He made a series of bad judgements, and instead of building a powerhouse, the franchise went backwards.

[Celtics4ever]

I always wonder how many people would give their "opinions" on Danny, to his face.

I would but I like him, he is little fella to me, in both height and size.

[BoulderMike]

I am a big Danny fan.  He took over a mess and put us among the elites for many years and built a sustainable culture of excellence.  The last few years were frustrating: some bad moves and some bad luck.

Thank you Danny Ainge!

[Roy H.]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I would put it another way. He was great up until after the offseason after the Kyrie trade. He had considerable bad luck from then on, but he also had a bunch of chances to navigate through it, and he couldn't do it. He made a series of bad judgements, and instead of building a powerhouse, the franchise went backwards.

With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done?

At the time, I thought that targeting Davis made sense.  And, I think we would have landed him if Kyrie bought in as a free agent.

The only fault I have with Danny is not trading Kyrie when it seemed inevitable that he was leaving.  Was Danny completely blind there, or was Kyrie’s agent telling him that the Celts were still in the driver seat?

I’m trying to think of the moves that Danny made that I absolutely hated at the time. There aren’t a lot of them.  Off the top of my head:  the Perk trade, the KG/Pierce trade (I was wrong), the Kyrie trade, drafting Fab Melo and drafting J.R. Giddens. 

[Roy H.]

I always wonder how many people would give their "opinions" on Danny, to his face.

I would but I like him, he is little fella to me, in both height and size.

Dang.  How big are you?

[slamtheking]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I would put it another way. He was great up until after the offseason after the Kyrie trade. He had considerable bad luck from then on, but he also had a bunch of chances to navigate through it, and he couldn't do it. He made a series of bad judgements, and instead of building a powerhouse, the franchise went backwards.

With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done?

At the time, I thought that targeting Davis made sense.  And, I think we would have landed him if Kyrie bought in as a free agent.

The only fault I have with Danny is not trading Kyrie when it seemed inevitable that he was leaving.  Was Danny completely blind there, or was Kyrie’s agent telling him that the Celts were still in the driver seat?

I’m trying to think of the moves that Danny made that I absolutely hated at the time. There aren’t a lot of them.  Off the top of my head:  the Perk trade, the KG/Pierce trade (I was wrong), the Kyrie trade, drafting Fab Melo and drafting J.R. Giddens.

I see his tenure similarly.

Was behind the Kyrie trade all the way -- injured IT and a mid-lotto pick for a top of the line PG.  made so much sense.  unfortunately Kyrie required all kinds of handholding and buckled under the Boston spotlight.  not sure how much Danny knew about the odds of Kyrie leaving --> played it like he thought Kyrie was staying which set the franchise back some.

Going for AD was the new version of the KG deal so that made sense.  unfortunately that was torpedoed by AD's group pushing to get him to LA.  the collapse of that plan seems to have crippled Danny's future moves for the team without any clear plan B to fall back on.

Hated the Perk trade because it left us reliant on JO and Shaq being healthy which didn't pan out.  Perk didn't get healthy either so the point was moot.

KG/PP trade was an emotional gut punch but the value was undeniable.

Fab was just an easy to see bad pick from a mile away. 

My biggest bone to pick with Danny is the mismanagement of the assets he accumulated.  So many draft picks that he couldn't do anything with -->  didn't use them in trades for established players, didn't use them to consolidate to move up in the draft, didn't use them on good players but either used them on draft-and-stash busts or gave away the pick for basically nothing.   That and letting our top end talent leave without getting anything in return.  Horford, Kyrie, Hayward all leaving with nothing but a TPE from Hayward which was partially used on a very flawed player leaving no big pay slot for another top player to be acquired.

I can't fault him for injuries to key players but there should be contingency plans to deal with those injuries. 

[td450]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I would put it another way. He was great up until after the offseason after the Kyrie trade. He had considerable bad luck from then on, but he also had a bunch of chances to navigate through it, and he couldn't do it. He made a series of bad judgements, and instead of building a powerhouse, the franchise went backwards.

With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done?

At the time, I thought that targeting Davis made sense.  And, I think we would have landed him if Kyrie bought in as a free agent.

The only fault I have with Danny is not trading Kyrie when it seemed inevitable that he was leaving.  Was Danny completely blind there, or was Kyrie’s agent telling him that the Celts were still in the driver seat?

I’m trying to think of the moves that Danny made that I absolutely hated at the time. There aren’t a lot of them.  Off the top of my head:  the Perk trade, the KG/Pierce trade (I was wrong), the Kyrie trade, drafting Fab Melo and drafting J.R. Giddens.

I was always of the opinion that Kyrie was not emotionally suited to handle Boston. I thought the deal offloading IT was awesome, but it just bought time. We should have traded him at the end of the first year.

Ainge also couldn't decide between players and roles. He had to choose between Smart and Rozier, and couldn't. He had to choose to make Hayward the 3rd option, but instead brought in Kemba. Both players couldn't tolerate it and left for nothing.

Finally, he couldn't switch drafting modes. The last two years, we needed to overpay badly in order to move up. He couldn't do it. He couldn't prioritize finding a power forward.

These were my opinions before they happened, not just with hindsight.

Ainge had chances to fix stuff right up until this year. But he didn't overpay for Halliburton. Didn't pick Saddiq Bey. Traded Theis for nothing. Ughh!

[soulman]

Thank you Danny!

You are a true Celtic!

You are a true legend!

[liam]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I always wonder how many people would give their "opinions" on Danny, to his face.

Like if it really came to it and they met him.

In New England? All of them....

[Moranis]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I would put it another way. He was great up until after the offseason after the Kyrie trade. He had considerable bad luck from then on, but he also had a bunch of chances to navigate through it, and he couldn't do it. He made a series of bad judgements, and instead of building a powerhouse, the franchise went backwards.

With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done?

At the time, I thought that targeting Davis made sense.  And, I think we would have landed him if Kyrie bought in as a free agent.

The only fault I have with Danny is not trading Kyrie when it seemed inevitable that he was leaving.  Was Danny completely blind there, or was Kyrie’s agent telling him that the Celts were still in the driver seat?

I’m trying to think of the moves that Danny made that I absolutely hated at the time. There aren’t a lot of them.  Off the top of my head:  the Perk trade, the KG/Pierce trade (I was wrong), the Kyrie trade, drafting Fab Melo and drafting J.R. Giddens.

As many on here know, I've been very hit or miss on Ainge's moves.  At the time and in hindsight.  To me the fundamental problem with what Ainge has (or has not) done over the last several years is pick a direction and go with it.  He has consistently tried to win now and build for the future and the result of that failure to commit is this giant mess of a roster.  This failure to pick a direction has been amplified significantly since he made the Tatum trade.  I think he majorly mishandled the Gordon Hayward vs. Paul George situation and he chose the wrong guy (and he might have been able to land both had he just pulled the trigger on the George trade).  I was never a fan of the Irving trade (in part because I had seen a lot of Irving and knew what a train-wreck he was and that he wasn't a good enough player), but it wasn't the trade of Irving that was really the problem.  It was the trade for Irving and then not following it up to truly build around him that was the problem.  He absolutely should have acquired Leonard at the expense of Brown that following summer.  Why acquire Irving, if you aren't going to really build a championship team around him?  If he was unwilling to pull the trigger on that sort of follow-up trade then he never should have acquired Irving at the expense of a major asset. 

The Walker signing was a major mistake both at the time and in hindsight.  Boston should have gone for a much younger more well rounded player.  I wanted the team to pursue Brogdon that summer.  I think he would have been a much better fit both in the short and long term.  And the team wouldn't be anywhere near the same level of cap hell had it done that. 

He should have acquired Turner and McDermott (and a 1st) for Hayward.  His indecision led to Charlotte jumping in and taking away that option.

He never should have acquired Fournier.  The team wasn't going anywhere and Fournier is not the type of player you use the TPE on. 

The simple reality is, Ainge has treated this team like it can actually compete for championships now and ten years from now.  He failed to properly build the team to do one or the other and the result is this mess of a roster that is in luxury tax hell. 

[td450]

Danny was good, not great

How many executives out there have delivered a championship, kept their team in the playoffs almost every season, and left behind two young stars?  How many were able to sign multiple max free agents, and had the ammunition to land all NBA players in trade?

Danny was great.  Unlucky, but great.

I would put it another way. He was great up until after the offseason after the Kyrie trade. He had considerable bad luck from then on, but he also had a bunch of chances to navigate through it, and he couldn't do it. He made a series of bad judgements, and instead of building a powerhouse, the franchise went backwards.

With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done?

At the time, I thought that targeting Davis made sense.  And, I think we would have landed him if Kyrie bought in as a free agent.

The only fault I have with Danny is not trading Kyrie when it seemed inevitable that he was leaving.  Was Danny completely blind there, or was Kyrie’s agent telling him that the Celts were still in the driver seat?

I’m trying to think of the moves that Danny made that I absolutely hated at the time. There aren’t a lot of them.  Off the top of my head:  the Perk trade, the KG/Pierce trade (I was wrong), the Kyrie trade, drafting Fab Melo and drafting J.R. Giddens.

As many on here know, I've been very hit or miss on Ainge's moves.  At the time and in hindsight.  To me the fundamental problem with what Ainge has (or has not) done over the last several years is pick a direction and go with it.  He has consistently tried to win now and build for the future and the result of that failure to commit is this giant mess of a roster.  This failure to pick a direction has been amplified significantly since he made the Tatum trade.  I think he majorly mishandled the Gordon Hayward vs. Paul George situation and he chose the wrong guy (and he might have been able to land both had he just pulled the trigger on the George trade).  I was never a fan of the Irving trade (in part because I had seen a lot of Irving and knew what a train-wreck he was and that he wasn't a good enough player), but it wasn't the trade of Irving that was really the problem.  It was the trade for Irving and then not following it up to truly build around him that was the problem.  He absolutely should have acquired Leonard at the expense of Brown that following summer.  Why acquire Irving, if you aren't going to really build a championship team around him?  If he was unwilling to pull the trigger on that sort of follow-up trade then he never should have acquired Irving at the expense of a major asset. 

The Walker signing was a major mistake both at the time and in hindsight.  Boston should have gone for a much younger more well rounded player.  I wanted the team to pursue Brogdon that summer.  I think he would have been a much better fit both in the short and long term.  And the team wouldn't be anywhere near the same level of cap hell had it done that. 

He should have acquired Turner and McDermott (and a 1st) for Hayward.  His indecision led to Charlotte jumping in and taking away that option.

He never should have acquired Fournier.  The team wasn't going anywhere and Fournier is not the type of player you use the TPE on. 

The simple reality is, Ainge has treated this team like it can actually compete for championships now and ten years from now.  He failed to properly build the team to do one or the other and the result is this mess of a roster that is in luxury tax hell.

You acquire Irving because he's a significant asset, and IT was a looming train wreck. After the end of the year, we could have gotten a reasonably valuable return for Kyrie. Teams would have wanted him. I think we could have gotten more than a #8 and Jae Crowder for him.

But keeping him was a bad idea. Not because he isn't a great player. Because he's not a reliable business partner, which is what your 1st or 2nd best player really is. Perhaps we would have had a cinderella moment like Toronto did. But  I can't imagine two worse choices for a franchise to depend on then Kyrie and Kawhi Leonard. Truly great players but neither is suited for Boston.

[Kuberski33]

I would give Danny an A- for his career running the Celtics.  He was excellent early on, culminating in their one championship and was one KG injury away from another - and I still say referees cost them that Game 7 that they lost to the Lakers the year Perkins got hurt. He probably should have won 2 and maybe even a 3rd.

Then he rebuilt the team ahead of schedule.  Gambled on a coach with no NBA experience who turned out pretty well, got roasted for drafting Jaylen and had the guts to take Tatum over Fultz and snag a first round draft pick in the process.

He lost his fastball starting in 2019 and has struggled since then - otherwise I'd give him a solid A.  People forget (and maybe some here are too young to remember) how brutal the situation was with Pitino and Paul Gaston running things.