Did Danny do his due diligence, should he have?

[BitterJim]

Danny didn't trade for Davis so he must not have done his due diligence is a false equivalent. Ainge did his due diligence and decided making the move was not in the best interest of the Celtics.

Ainge gets involved in just about every big trade that could be happening. Heck, there were reports he was talking to Houston, when the Davis deal was still an ongoing thing. Obviously, he was looking at other options, i.e. doing his due diligence.

You do not WAIT three years for a player that is not coming. I am not talking about due diligence he did in the last six months. I am talking about due diligence he did when he decided that it was Davis or bust, which if you follow these blogs everyone seems to think he made years ago.

Did Danny decide it was Davis or bust, or did YOU decide that Danny decided it was Davis or bust?

[GreenFaith1819]

Rich Paul.

[Ogaju]

Has Danny ever said that his entire goal was to trade for AD? It seems like he's just been keeping the assets in case the right situation arises, and people decided a year or two ago that it must be AD.

Clearly AD was not the right opportunity  (had Hayward not broken his leg, that would likely be a different story), and while it turns out Kawhi probably was the right opportunity, there were huge reasons to be wary of that trade at the time

The point is Boston has/had the best package for AD. The only problem was AD was never coming. Shouldnt Danny have known this?

[Ogaju]

Danny didn't trade for Davis so he must not have done his due diligence is a false equivalent. Ainge did his due diligence and decided making the move was not in the best interest of the Celtics.

Ainge gets involved in just about every big trade that could be happening. Heck, there were reports he was talking to Houston, when the Davis deal was still an ongoing thing. Obviously, he was looking at other options, i.e. doing his due diligence.

You do not WAIT three years for a player that is not coming. I am not talking about due diligence he did in the last six months. I am talking about due diligence he did when he decided that it was Davis or bust, which if you follow these blogs everyone seems to think he made years ago.

Did Danny decide it was Davis or bust, or did YOU decide that Danny decided it was Davis or bust?

I do not mind being corrected about this, but almost every blog I have read says Danny was hoarding all his assets for AD.

[nickagneta]

Danny didn't trade for Davis so he must not have done his due diligence is a false equivalent. Ainge did his due diligence and decided making the move was not in the best interest of the Celtics.

Ainge gets involved in just about every big trade that could be happening. Heck, there were reports he was talking to Houston, when the Davis deal was still an ongoing thing. Obviously, he was looking at other options, i.e. doing his due diligence.

You do not WAIT three years for a player that is not coming. I am not talking about due diligence he did in the last six months. I am talking about due diligence he did when he decided that it was Davis or bust, which if you follow these blogs everyone seems to think he made years ago.

Did Danny decide it was Davis or bust, or did YOU decide that Danny decided it was Davis or bust?

I do not mind being corrected about this, but almost every blog I have read says Danny was hoarding all his assets for AD.

You are reading blogs. That's your problem.

Ainge was hoarding assets to make any deal for a huge star. He identified Davis as a possibility a couple years ago because: Pelicans. It didn't work out. That doesn't mean he didn't do enough research on the matter.  And it doesn't mean he didn't make other trades because he was saving up for only one thing, to trade for Davis.

[Irish Stew]

I'm not upset with Ainge as long as I don't find out that that he was very serious about trading for AD but continued with a lowball offer to the point that NOLA gave up and turned to LA. If Leonard, Butler and/or Irving leave for LAL or LAC, we might be a greater threat this year in the Eastern Conference in spite of having a lesser talented team.

[Tr1boy]

When you hoard your assets for one player and one player alone do you have to at least know that the player will not totally reject your advances. There has to be some intelligence that does not violate the tampering rules otherwise it is ridiculous to place your franchises fortunes on hold for a player that may not share your interest. Why did he wait years for a player that was never coming.

this is your guesstimate

He also loves Leonard I'm sure.... did you see him take the risk

He also loves Tatum and Brown and was not willing to give up either for even Irving

Tatum and Brown are still very young and under Celts control for years to come

giving one up for AD , who would have been likely a one year rental....bad attitude towards wanting to stay long terms and then having to deal with his nasty agent..... you come back to Irving type turmoil of last season once again

also immense pressure to guarantee a championship because if it doesn't happen, your franchise suddenly turns into the 2014-2016 Brooklyn nets

[Ogaju]

When you hoard your assets for one player and one player alone do you have to at least know that the player will not totally reject your advances. There has to be some intelligence that does not violate the tampering rules otherwise it is ridiculous to place your franchises fortunes on hold for a player that may not share your interest. Why did he wait years for a player that was never coming.

this is your guesstimate

He also loves Leonard I'm sure.... did you see him take the risk

He also loves Tatum and Brown and was not willing to give up either for even Irving

Tatum and Brown are still very young and under Celts control for years to come

giving one up for AD , who would have been likely a one year rental....bad attitude towards wanting to stay long terms and then having to deal with his nasty agent..... you come back to Irving type turmoil of last season once again

also immense pressure to guarantee a championship because if it doesn't happen, your franchise suddenly turns into the 2014-2016 Brooklyn nets

I am totally fine with the trade not going down. You do not trade your best assets for a definite one year rental. My point is why all that wasted time.

[BitterJim]

Has Danny ever said that his entire goal was to trade for AD? It seems like he's just been keeping the assets in case the right situation arises, and people decided a year or two ago that it must be AD.

Clearly AD was not the right opportunity  (had Hayward not broken his leg, that would likely be a different story), and while it turns out Kawhi probably was the right opportunity, there were huge reasons to be wary of that trade at the time

The point is Boston has/had the best package for AD. The only problem was AD was never coming. Shouldnt Danny have known this?

Could he have know it, though? You can't ask the player while they're under contract with another team

Now, if Danny had been offering Tatum for AD and either: 1. Withdrawn the offer after that Rich Paul interview with SI came out or 2. Traded for him just to see him walk a year later, then it would seem like he didn't do his due diligence. Heck, if he had decided not to make an offer for Paul George or Kawhi due to thinking AD would be available, there would be an argument there (although that would be more that Danny shouldn't put all his eggs in one hypothetical basket, not that he didn't do his due diligence)

It seems to me like a lot of bloggers are trying to simplify the reasons Danny didn't go all in for guys like Butler, Paul George, and Kawhi as him just waiting for Davis, but the reality us that the circumstances just weren't right for any of them at the time (except Kawhi, but there were many reasons to be wary of that one). Honestly, I'm still mad that the Pacers wouldn't wait until after the Hayward signing to trade Paul George

[Bobshot]

I have no doubt Ainge did his "due diligence." 

There were also other considerations: the inputs of Stevens and Wyc, for example.

Stevens does not value bigs as much as others. Maybe he didn't value Davis. And Davis gets hurt frequently. He misses games.

Maybe the money was prohibitive in terms of re-signing him. That could be a bigger concern than actually re-signing him. Hayward's contract is an albatross right now. And with Irving coming back, it might have been excessive.

Maybe he didn't want to give up all those draft picks he's hoarded, particularly for a rental.

Some of us view a dominant big like Davis as critical for the Celtics success. I doubt Ainge/Stevens share that view.

I'm sure they weighed all these things carefully, and decided not to throw the dice.

[Tr1boy]

When you hoard your assets for one player and one player alone do you have to at least know that the player will not totally reject your advances. There has to be some intelligence that does not violate the tampering rules otherwise it is ridiculous to place your franchises fortunes on hold for a player that may not share your interest. Why did he wait years for a player that was never coming.

this is your guesstimate

He also loves Leonard I'm sure.... did you see him take the risk

He also loves Tatum and Brown and was not willing to give up either for even Irving

Tatum and Brown are still very young and under Celts control for years to come

giving one up for AD , who would have been likely a one year rental....bad attitude towards wanting to stay long terms and then having to deal with his nasty agent..... you come back to Irving type turmoil of last season once again

also immense pressure to guarantee a championship because if it doesn't happen, your franchise suddenly turns into the 2014-2016 Brooklyn nets

I am totally fine with the trade not going down. You do not trade your best assets for a definite one year rental. My point is why all that wasted time.

its not wasted time

Celts org still need to survive and make money on the business side of things

But there is a chance moving forward a key player becomes available via trade or Celts will be able to sign a marquee FA in a year or two

Still also need to see what Tatum and Brown can do as "the man"

Bringing in Davis, would have guaranteed nothing.  Who knows, he could fake an injury by the trade deadline and prepare to play for the Lakers next season.  It is extremely risky to trade that many assets for a player that has no interest to stay long term

[Boris Badenov]

When you hoard your assets for one player and one player alone do you have to at least know that the player will not totally reject your advances. There has to be some intelligence that does not violate the tampering rules otherwise it is ridiculous to place your franchises fortunes on hold for a player that may not share your interest. Why did he wait years for a player that was never coming.

this is your guesstimate

He also loves Leonard I'm sure.... did you see him take the risk

He also loves Tatum and Brown and was not willing to give up either for even Irving

Tatum and Brown are still very young and under Celts control for years to come

giving one up for AD , who would have been likely a one year rental....bad attitude towards wanting to stay long terms and then having to deal with his nasty agent..... you come back to Irving type turmoil of last season once again

also immense pressure to guarantee a championship because if it doesn't happen, your franchise suddenly turns into the 2014-2016 Brooklyn nets

I am totally fine with the trade not going down. You do not trade your best assets for a definite one year rental. My point is why all that wasted time.

First you complain about the lack of due diligence, and now you are complaining about "wasted time"?

(Hint: every time a deal doesn't happen, the due diligence looks like wasted time after the fact.)

[Emmette Bryant]

Danny was between the Devil and the deep blue sea on this one.

No matter what he did there was going to be a lot of unhappy people.

[Celtics4ever]

We will see during the draft as I see it..

[gpap]

It just looks like Anthony Davis was the wrong target from the beginning.

First off, it looks like Danny Ainge thinks that the KG method will work every time he targets a player. Doesn't work that way.

It worked for the KG trade. Didn't work this time.

New Orleans wasn't willing to trade him. THEN, when Davis requested a trade, Ainge couldn't make the move without dealing Kyrie.

And then, Davis' agent basically said to the Celtics, "not interested."

So, the whole situation was just a complete mess from the very beginning.

Ainge missed the boat on Kawhil and he totally misread the AD saga.

As for doing his due diligence, I don't think he is, otherwise all these things wouldn't be backfiring on him.