Thank you Danny Ainge

[Roy H.]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

And the dollars isn't on Ainge.  The television contracts have exploded.  Every team is worth way more today than they were 20 years ago, by a huge margin.  In 2002 the average franchise value was 223 million.  Today it is 2.2 billion.

Why would you divide it into arbitrary segments like that?

The fact is, Red presided over 16 championships.  All of the other execs (Gavitt, Carr, Pitino, Wallace) accounted for zero, until Danny came along and delivered #17.  To say that Danny presided over the least successful 20 year period in Celtics history is, quite frankly, stupid (particularly when Danny hasn't been here for 20 years).

[gouki88]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

You should be genuinely ashamed of yourself for sharing something Nick Wrong said

[freshinthehouse]

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

If you think that the last 20 years was worse than 87 to 2007, you weren't watching basketball back then.  And yeah, Ainge was there for a few of those years, trying to dig this franchise out from under a mountain of crap.  The Celtics from roughly 93 to 00 were one of the worst, most dysfunctional franchises in the NBA.   Never once could u say that during Danny's run.

I know your schtick on CS is being the board contrarian, but this is an insanely silly hill to die on. 

[Moranis]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

And the dollars isn't on Ainge.  The television contracts have exploded.  Every team is worth way more today than they were 20 years ago, by a huge margin.  In 2002 the average franchise value was 223 million.  Today it is 2.2 billion.

Why would you divide it into arbitrary segments like that?

The fact is, Red presided over 16 championships.  All of the other execs (Gavitt, Carr, Pitino, Wallace) accounted for zero, until Danny came along and delivered #17.  To say that Danny presided over the least successful 20 year period in Celtics history is, quite frankly, stupid (particularly when Danny hasn't been here for 20 years).

Arbitrary?  Danny was here for 18 years, so 20 is a round number and it is far from arbitrary to look back 20 years from the present.  And then just keep going back in 20 year segments.  If you go back in 18 year segments, then this is tied for the worst 18 year period in the team's history with the one directly preceding it that also had just 1 title and 1 finals appearance.

On this board, I keep hearing about how important championships are, that the Lakers tied the Celtics and how much that sucks, etc., but yet when confronted with the fact that in Ainge's 18 years he has 1 championship it doesn't matter, he is still very good to great.  Well which is it, do championships matter or not?  It doesn't cut both ways.  If championships matter that much, then it is hard to say Ainge hasn't failed because there was 1 title in 18 years.

[boscel33]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

And the dollars isn't on Ainge.  The television contracts have exploded.  Every team is worth way more today than they were 20 years ago, by a huge margin.  In 2002 the average franchise value was 223 million.  Today it is 2.2 billion.

Why would you divide it into arbitrary segments like that?

The fact is, Red presided over 16 championships.  All of the other execs (Gavitt, Carr, Pitino, Wallace) accounted for zero, until Danny came along and delivered #17.  To say that Danny presided over the least successful 20 year period in Celtics history is, quite frankly, stupid (particularly when Danny hasn't been here for 20 years).

Arbitrary?  Danny was here for 18 years, so 20 is a round number and it is far from arbitrary to look back 20 years from the present.  And then just keep going back in 20 year segments.  If you go back in 18 year segments, then this is tied for the worst 18 year period in the team's history with the one directly preceding it that also had just 1 title and 1 finals appearance.

On this board, I keep hearing about how important championships are, that the Lakers tied the Celtics and how much that sucks, etc., but yet when confronted with the fact that in Ainge's 18 years he has 1 championship it doesn't matter, he is still very good to great.  Well which is it, do championships matter or not?  It doesn't cut both ways.  If championships matter that much, then it is hard to say Ainge hasn't failed because there was 1 title in 18 years.

I'm in the camp of, Danny did a really good job.  This would have been a higher score had he made some of the deals that he "almost' did.  I think the Nets deal came too easy for him and he thought they'd all be like that, thus he held out.  Where is this team this year had he dealt Hayward to Indiana instead of holding out for a different player thus allowing Charlotte to step up.  If I recall, the original deal was Turner and Doug McDermott for Hayward.  I think we're a much better team with those two for sure.  Are we championship, I can't say because of the other injuries that occurred, but they're a better team for sure.

KW/JB/JT/DM/MT would be my five, which moves Smart to the 6th man role, where I think he belongs.  It also means, Theis is probably still on the team, in a reserve role, and Fournier is probably not on the team.  Matter of fact, the trade deadline probably would have been much quieter for the C's.

[gouki88]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

And the dollars isn't on Ainge.  The television contracts have exploded.  Every team is worth way more today than they were 20 years ago, by a huge margin.  In 2002 the average franchise value was 223 million.  Today it is 2.2 billion.

Why would you divide it into arbitrary segments like that?

The fact is, Red presided over 16 championships.  All of the other execs (Gavitt, Carr, Pitino, Wallace) accounted for zero, until Danny came along and delivered #17.  To say that Danny presided over the least successful 20 year period in Celtics history is, quite frankly, stupid (particularly when Danny hasn't been here for 20 years).

Arbitrary?  Danny was here for 18 years, so 20 is a round number and it is far from arbitrary to look back 20 years from the present.  And then just keep going back in 20 year segments.  If you go back in 18 year segments, then this is tied for the worst 18 year period in the team's history with the one directly preceding it that also had just 1 title and 1 finals appearance.

On this board, I keep hearing about how important championships are, that the Lakers tied the Celtics and how much that sucks, etc., but yet when confronted with the fact that in Ainge's 18 years he has 1 championship it doesn't matter, he is still very good to great.  Well which is it, do championships matter or not?  It doesn't cut both ways.  If championships matter that much, then it is hard to say Ainge hasn't failed because there was 1 title in 18 years.

Taking contrarianism to bold new levels. Just stop

[mr. dee]

To celebrate Danny's tenure as the GM, here are the highlight of his successful GM career:

Drafts:
Al Jefferson (14th pick/2004) = 1x All-NBA Team
Tony Allen (25th pick/2004) = 6x All-Defensive Team
Rajon Rondo (21st pick/2006) = 4x NBA All-Star, 1x All-NBA Team, 4x All-Defensive Team, 3x Assist Leader
Avery Bradley (19th pick/2010) = 2x All-Defensive Team
Marcus Smart (6th pick/2014) = 2x All-Defensive Team (and counting)
Jaylen Brown (3rd pick/2016) = 1x All-Star (and counting)
Jayson Tatum (3rd pick/2017) = 2x All-Star, 1x All-NBA Team (And counting)

Juries are still left for guys like Nesmith, Pritchard, Langford and Timelord which could all win at least an All-Defensive Team spot or maybe even better.

Trades:
Kevin Garnett = The trade the bolster us to Banner 18
Ray Allen = Another impact trade the support the KG trade
Nets picks = Excellent trade that net us both Jaylen and Jayson
Isaiah Thomas = An under the radar trade that put C's back on the map after rebuilding
Sixers pick = This trade net us another 1st rounder (Langford) which could be a valuable piece later whether as a trade or as a player.
Hayward TPE = Proof that he can also squeeze as much as he on free agency can if there is something to gain.

Signings
James Posey = One of them most vital piece on our championship run
Al Horford = This broke the long stigma of "Players don't like Boston" narrative. While it's still quite true, but only for superstars that's more about themselves than being a team

[coco]

Danny was/is one of the best GMs in the past 20yrs.
And we were fortunate to have him.
He did look like he aged 7yrs in the last 2yrs.  Glad he decided to choose health and family.

[timpiker]

Yes, thank you Danny !!!

[Birdman]

To celebrate Danny's tenure as the GM, here are the highlight of his successful GM career:

Drafts:
Al Jefferson (14th pick/2004) = 1x All-NBA Team
Tony Allen (25th pick/2004) = 6x All-Defensive Team
Rajon Rondo (21st pick/2006) = 4x NBA All-Star, 1x All-NBA Team, 4x All-Defensive Team, 3x Assist Leader
Avery Bradley (19th pick/2010) = 2x All-Defensive Team
Marcus Smart (6th pick/2014) = 2x All-Defensive Team (and counting)
Jaylen Brown (3rd pick/2016) = 1x All-Star (and counting)
Jayson Tatum (3rd pick/2017) = 2x All-Star, 1x All-NBA Team (And counting)

Juries are still left for guys like Nesmith, Pritchard, Langford and Timelord which could all win at least an All-Defensive Team spot or maybe even better.

Trades:
Kevin Garnett = The trade the bolster us to Banner 18
Ray Allen = Another impact trade the support the KG trade
Nets picks = Excellent trade that net us both Jaylen and Jayson
Isaiah Thomas = An under the radar trade that put C's back on the map after rebuilding
Sixers pick = This trade net us another 1st rounder (Langford) which could be a valuable piece later whether as a trade or as a player.
Hayward TPE = Proof that he can also squeeze as much as he on free agency can if there is something to gain.

Signings
James Posey = One of them most vital piece on our championship run
Al Horford = This broke the long stigma of "Players don't like Boston" narrative. While it's still quite true, but only for superstars that's more about themselves than being a team

He also sign Gordon Hayward, which at the time was a great signing..no one knew he gotta break his leg..
Also trading for Kyrie Irving was great at the time

[Moranis]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

And the dollars isn't on Ainge.  The television contracts have exploded.  Every team is worth way more today than they were 20 years ago, by a huge margin.  In 2002 the average franchise value was 223 million.  Today it is 2.2 billion.

Why would you divide it into arbitrary segments like that?

The fact is, Red presided over 16 championships.  All of the other execs (Gavitt, Carr, Pitino, Wallace) accounted for zero, until Danny came along and delivered #17.  To say that Danny presided over the least successful 20 year period in Celtics history is, quite frankly, stupid (particularly when Danny hasn't been here for 20 years).

Arbitrary?  Danny was here for 18 years, so 20 is a round number and it is far from arbitrary to look back 20 years from the present.  And then just keep going back in 20 year segments.  If you go back in 18 year segments, then this is tied for the worst 18 year period in the team's history with the one directly preceding it that also had just 1 title and 1 finals appearance.

On this board, I keep hearing about how important championships are, that the Lakers tied the Celtics and how much that sucks, etc., but yet when confronted with the fact that in Ainge's 18 years he has 1 championship it doesn't matter, he is still very good to great.  Well which is it, do championships matter or not?  It doesn't cut both ways.  If championships matter that much, then it is hard to say Ainge hasn't failed because there was 1 title in 18 years.

Taking contrarianism to bold new levels. Just stop

Overall I think Ainge did a good job, but that goodness was really buoyed by 4 major trades: the Allen trade, the KG trade, the KG/PP trade, and the Tatum trade.  The latter 3 were mega home runs and the first was really required to get that 1st KG trade.  Those 4 trades though really set the team's success over Ainge's entire tenure.  Outside of those 4 trades, Ainge has been fairly mediocre.  He has some hits, he has some misses.  The last 3 years though, he has done far more harm than good and he has left this team a complete mess with no future assets and no really good players or assets aside from Tatum and Brown.  And while Tatum and Brown are fantastic, the rest of the roster and asset chest is poor. 

[mr. dee]

To celebrate Danny's tenure as the GM, here are the highlight of his successful GM career:

Drafts:
Al Jefferson (14th pick/2004) = 1x All-NBA Team
Tony Allen (25th pick/2004) = 6x All-Defensive Team
Rajon Rondo (21st pick/2006) = 4x NBA All-Star, 1x All-NBA Team, 4x All-Defensive Team, 3x Assist Leader
Avery Bradley (19th pick/2010) = 2x All-Defensive Team
Marcus Smart (6th pick/2014) = 2x All-Defensive Team (and counting)
Jaylen Brown (3rd pick/2016) = 1x All-Star (and counting)
Jayson Tatum (3rd pick/2017) = 2x All-Star, 1x All-NBA Team (And counting)

Juries are still left for guys like Nesmith, Pritchard, Langford and Timelord which could all win at least an All-Defensive Team spot or maybe even better.

Trades:
Kevin Garnett = The trade the bolster us to Banner 18
Ray Allen = Another impact trade the support the KG trade
Nets picks = Excellent trade that net us both Jaylen and Jayson
Isaiah Thomas = An under the radar trade that put C's back on the map after rebuilding
Sixers pick = This trade net us another 1st rounder (Langford) which could be a valuable piece later whether as a trade or as a player.
Hayward TPE = Proof that he can also squeeze as much as he on free agency can if there is something to gain.

Signings
James Posey = One of them most vital piece on our championship run
Al Horford = This broke the long stigma of "Players don't like Boston" narrative. While it's still quite true, but only for superstars that's more about themselves than being a team

He also sign Gordon Hayward, which at the time was a great signing..no one knew he gotta break his leg..
Also trading for Kyrie Irving was great at the time

I didn't include those because they didn't end up successfully. At least Al was very impactful on this team during his stint.

[Roy H.]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

But that overlaps with Ainge.  His point was that from the 01-02 season till today (i.e. the last 20 seasons), Boston has won 1 championship with just 2 Finals appearances.  Going back in 20 year increments that is the least amount of titles and finals appearances in any period (and it is at least half of any other 20 year period with those with most having way more of each).  2 of the 3 worst seasons by win percentage also fall under Ainge's watch 07 and 14 (only 97 is worse). 

And the dollars isn't on Ainge.  The television contracts have exploded.  Every team is worth way more today than they were 20 years ago, by a huge margin.  In 2002 the average franchise value was 223 million.  Today it is 2.2 billion.

Why would you divide it into arbitrary segments like that?

The fact is, Red presided over 16 championships.  All of the other execs (Gavitt, Carr, Pitino, Wallace) accounted for zero, until Danny came along and delivered #17.  To say that Danny presided over the least successful 20 year period in Celtics history is, quite frankly, stupid (particularly when Danny hasn't been here for 20 years).

Arbitrary?  Danny was here for 18 years, so 20 is a round number and it is far from arbitrary to look back 20 years from the present.  And then just keep going back in 20 year segments.  If you go back in 18 year segments, then this is tied for the worst 18 year period in the team's history with the one directly preceding it that also had just 1 title and 1 finals appearance.

On this board, I keep hearing about how important championships are, that the Lakers tied the Celtics and how much that sucks, etc., but yet when confronted with the fact that in Ainge's 18 years he has 1 championship it doesn't matter, he is still very good to great.  Well which is it, do championships matter or not?  It doesn't cut both ways.  If championships matter that much, then it is hard to say Ainge hasn't failed because there was 1 title in 18 years.

I think that you’re being intentionally obtuse.

For any sane person, if you wanted to determine the least successful 20 year time span for a franchise, you would look at the 20 years that were least successful.  That’s clearly 1988 until 2007.

It took Danny four years to clean up the mess left behind by all of the prior administration’s since Red.   The franchise got set back by some terrible luck with injuries (KG, then Perk, then Hayward, Kyrie and Kemba), but compared to about 80% of NBA teams, the last 18 years have been amazing. 

And, unlike most executives who leave, he left us in really good shape. Danny drafted the best individual talent we have seen since the Bird era, and another high-character, two-way All-Star.

In conclusion:

[Mahk E Mahk]

https://twitter.com/FTFonFS1/status/1400472197500526597

The reality is that Danny Ainge oversaw the least successful 20 years in the history of the Celtics franchise.

We talking titles? Then sure.

We talking $$? Perhaps not.

1987-2007 was much, much worse. It started with the death of Len Bias, then Bird's back gave out, and went downhill from there.

Ainge has put us in a good spot despite a lot going against us since 2008.

don’t forget reggie lewis; that was a rough two decades.

interestingly, it was probably danny’s plea to red near the beginning of this putrid two-decade period that he needed to trade bird that most likely marked the conception of his front office career, which would come to fruition years later. red, who obviously didn’t take danny’s advice, must have realized then that this kid had the cutthroat mentality needed to succeed in the front office  environment of the nba.

[SHAQATTACK]

Danny brought us respect back with KG and a title .

kG my all time fav player .  so always indebted to Danny for this magnificent bit of GM work .