Well yes. There's no rebuilding to be done until draft night in June. They could have jump started the process by trading Ray but they elected not to do so.
As Chris said, rebuilding is a delicate process. But it also has to be a completely unsentimental process and there is no room for procrastination.
I agree with all of this. And I personally believe that the lack of a Ray trade had nothing to do with sentimentality. I just do not think there was a deal out there that made sense for the team in both the long and short-term, that also fit into the finances.
I think Danny worked hard to try to turn Ray into a younger building block. However, I just am not sure they had the assets to combine with Ray to make it happen.
Patience has proven a virtue to Ainge in the past, and I think this will be another case. I think he is willing to use Pierce or Garnett's contract in the next two seasons, if the right trade presents itself. I just think he is waiting for the right deal...but he needs to add a few more assets to be able to make that happen.
Agreed.
Patience and asset hoarding are Ainge's preferred means of rebuilding. He's not the type of GM who will prioritize cap-clearing salary dumps. He wants to stockpile young assets to develop and eventually pair with expiring contracts to land established stars.
He's also shown a willingness to be competitive in the short-term even without realistic title aspirations, as his courtship of Karl Malone and acquisitions of Gary Payton and Antoine Walker show.
My guess is that he will work to add young assets to the team while lending secondary attention to the team's immediate title chances. I strongly doubt he will try to move KG for an expiring contract.
I predict he will try to resign Ray Allen for 2 years to solidify the wing spot. If Pierce wants to opt out, I believe he would also offer him a 2 year deal.
I believe Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis will be shopped heavily in the offseason, perhaps in tandem to land a more flexible rotation big on a 2 year deal (Boris Diaw, Nene, Mehmet Okur, David West). I don't think he doesn't like either player, but I strongly doubt he wants to commit to either player long-term (when their contracts would likely tank their trade value) and shipping them out in the offseason, before losing them for nothing, makes a lot of sense.
I believe Ainge will try to spend the MLE on a younger player, as opposed to spending big on vets and scrounging the bargain bin for busts like POB. Amir Johnson would seem an ideal choice (low-profile, highly regarded by Ainge coming out of the draft). Dorell Wright is another player that would seem to fit the potential late-bloomer profile that Ainge seems to seek out (Telfair, Ricky Davis, Chris Mihm, POB).
If such a plan were to go through, we'd likely persist as a 45-55 win team until KG/Sheed's expiration, at which point we'd have 25 year old Rondo, 3 late first round picks (2010, 2011, 2012), and a young player at the MLE, to start from scratch with. Sign a few promising young players with the cap space, get a high draft pick and you've got a potentially nice foundation.
