Danny or Brad?

[Moranis]

When you build a super team in Brooklyn, No way Boston can compete this year with that team.
Danny had no control over that move.  We will rise with the talent we have. Fournier will help. Kemba's health will too.Time Lord looks good as well.  If we play the Bucks or Philly in round 1 think we can win and with play the other in the second i think we can make the ECF again. Brad was out coached by the Heat but he out coached. I think he can out think Doc and Bud as well, IMO. Talent will cost him against the Nets. But the Jays will grow and how many 24 year old players lead a team to a championship, anyway.
CALL me crazy but I think Kemba is going to have Playoff magic.

except Ainge could in fact have acquired Harden, not only stopping the super team in Brooklyn, but also making Boston the favorites to at least come out of the East.

Harden wanted to go to Nets. He would not be happy if he was forced here.

And if traded here and had to work with the awful bench and mostly youth, he would have soured early and been gone as soon as he could have.

Exchanging Harden for Brown doesn't make this a championship team and Harden, because of this, would leave Boston as fast as possible making the trade a net negative all around move.

And let's not discount Harden's personal life. He loves his late nights out at clubs. Boston isn't that type of town. Add that to any dissatisfaction Harden would have had with the team and it's most likely Harden would have forced his way out of here next year or wait and go the year after that.

Better to have been conservative here and pass on that deal.

except you don't know if any of that is true.  I believe the opposite.  I think Harden wants to win and would have seen Boston as a real shot at actually winning.  Tatum is the best player he would have played with in his prime.  Boston is in a more winnable conference.  And Harden is exactly what Boston needs a real legit top 5 player that can score at will, but is also an excellent passer. 

And the simple reality is, Boston isn't winning a title with Tatum and Brown and this roster as currently constructed anyway (certainly not any time soon).  You take the shot at the title even if it is just a 2 year shot, because those opportunities don't come around very often. 

[Rikibellevie]

There is incoherence that such a young team with one of the most under 25 YO promising duo of NBA, is playing like a team who is into the end of a cycle (low energy, bad choices, bad luck). With such youth, we should at least have enthousiasm. We need that, hope, positivity to overcross this period and our best players and young (hopefully) future role players. But we are all mad. Maybe we shouldn't have (and they also) that much expectations, so they can confidently all learn their roles, polish their games... Tatum and Brown have still everything to become the elite duo. But some cast was bad for the little roles (Teague) or the big ones (Walker).

I would happily change this summer Smart and Walker (+ the first needed) in sign and trade for Ball and Collins. Then maybe with a total young team we can again be the construction team, with energy guys, young bucks with big tooth and grow with the Stevens knowledge basketball. And accept to wait 2 or 3 years more.
Maybe Ainge choose halfway beetin reconstruction (with 2 wondefull pepites) and trying to win now (signing Walker) last year. Maybe he should have choose the total youth mode (maybe with Hayward as the mentor). Again if the TPE is lost for 1 or 2 moonth of Fournier, then I think Ainge would have to go, with all the respect due to him. But I hope Brad have a chance with this guys when they will really enter at their top, if the team is still 100% around him (if jays are in fact). He brought 3 ECF where we overachieved. He is a very good coach in PO when stuff counts. I always thought he experimented a lot during RS. But this year, with the inconstancy and ledicrity, experience look more as a mess. I still believe this coach even if he frustrates me.

[celts55]

It's hard to say. I know from watching that Stevens is a very questionable coach at best. I will never understand his rotations, lack of momentum stopping time outs, and switching defense that seems to always leave someone wide open. The players lack heart and discipline, and dissolve quickly why any adversity happens. Since they almost always come back in the 4th quarter, I have to assume there is talent there, so why aren't they playing at full effort the first three? I would have to put at least some of that on the coach.

As for Danny, well I think he might have built the worst bench in the NBA. Top 3 worst anyway. I believe he made a mistake not trading the last 2 lotto picks for veteran players. For some reason I guess he believed both would be better than 14th picks, but I would have taken a chance.

The thing that makes it difficult to judge is I really don't know what was offered. I know what was rumored, but don't know if these are true. Did he really get to greedy with Indiana? I don't know, but if he did, shame on him. I firmly believe he should have gone all out to get Gordon. If it's true Smart was the sticking point, I think he made a huge mistake. Personally, I would trade Smart for a future pick. I'm so tired of his game, but I digress.

The truth is, I see no reasonable way out of this mess. They don't really have much of trade value. A team might like Nesmith or Langford, but what are they going to give up for them? Grant, Semi, etc= no value. Rob Williams has some, but then you have no decent big. They are probably to good to not make the playoffs and get into the lottery, so looking at a late teen early 20's pick.

So I would have to split the blame in half.