Second guessing coaches and GMs is part of the fun of being a fan. Debating it with informed fans on a Forum is fun too. This particular debate seems unusually heated, not sure why people are upset about getting Turner or not. Oh well.
I think debate is heated because some of us want to prove that Danny takes wrong decisions sometimes while the rest want to prove that we should never second guess his decisions. It’s very similar debate with his drafting especially in the middle of the draft.
Yeah, fair point. I tend to lean more towards cutting Ainge slack. For example, many people still gripe about taking Olynyk over Giannis. Now that was a missed opportunity. But does that really prove Danny is a bad GM? Not to me and nor does electing not to trade for Miles Turner.
Fab Melo is the only draft pick where I feel Danny is totally at fault. Anyone should have been able to see that Fab was a beat slow and would never be an NBA player. Drafting is hard. Teams miss on guys all the time, even first picks overall (most recently Fultz) and it seems every draft there is someone who is taken at the end of the 2nd round that becomes a star.
But as I said, second guessing and debating is half the fun of being a fan.
I agree almost entirely. I find debating interesting. I think we have enough evidence to argue over whether we’d rather have Turner/McDermott/protected #1 over the TPE.
There are a lot of smart people on here, but I was surprised by seeing so much deflection from the original question. Danny definitely has his white knights, and that’s okay: I’ve been one too.
But, I’d rather debate the pros and cons, and I’d love for others to chime in.
Pros To The Deal:
1. Turner is just better than what we have. He’s a prolific shot blocker and three point shooter who doesn’t need the ball. We would have added him to Theis and Williams for a very good center rotation.
2. McDermott is an excellent shooter who plays off-ball, something we need. He would improve the depth substantially, and could either start or come off the bench.
3. First rounders are the most sought after currency in trades. The Bucks pick just brought back Jarett Allen, a solid young player. Houston wanted draft picks over young guys. With so many contenders unable to trade firsts, we’d have a ton of flexibility.
4. We wouldn’t have had to trade two second rounders for a trade exception.
5. We wouldn’t have had to use the MLE on Thompson. That opens us up to use the Taxpayers MLE on a different player, or to save it for buyouts.
6. We wouldn’t be hard-capped.
Cons to the Deal:
1. Danny assessed Turner’s value around the league, and there wasn’t as much interest as hoped for. It’s hard taking on a guy for three years if you worry his contract will be hard to trade.
2. Turner had played with four of our guys with Team USA, and the results weren’t spectacular;
3. McDermott adds little other than floor-stretching;
4. We would have gone over the luxury tax, meaning we’d essentially be hard-capped and would even have to shed salary to avoid the luxury tax (I think.). This means no using the MLE, because it wouldn’t be affordable;
5. At the time, Danny didn’t necessarily know how free agency would go. If Danny makes the trade and then finds out Paul Millsap would have taken our MLE, the trade looks worse;
6. Yes, offense and shot-blocking improve, but our rebounding takes a hit. Turner and McDermott are poor rebounders; Thompson is good at it;
7. Potentially McDermott blocks our younger guys from getting minutes.
I think that’s a fair assessment.