Danny Choked.

[Irish Stew]

If Ainge can be accused of anything, it is that he is overly concerned about overpaying for players that would make us better for the long term. Given the number of picks that we have and the amount of cap space that we have now and will have as the cap expands, we shouldn't be drafting four players this year and as many as 8 next year. That's just not going to get us where we want to be. All were going to wind up is with a whole bunch of solid rotation players and no stars, a recipe for a team with a ceiling of 45 wins. All those picks give us the ability to overpay if necessary, not to draft enough players to make an NFL team. Would it really bother the guys who wanted to draft 4 guys this year if we overpaid for Noel and signed someone like Love or Monroe and go compete to reach the Eastern finals? Do they really think that the Celtics moved the needle significantly forward by drafting these four players? I'm willing to keep an open mind about where this franchise is headed, but after last night, I'm more than a little concerned.

[PhoSita]

Ainge called CHA about the #9, and they were asking for the moon. I'm glad he held off.

I'd be very interested to know what "the moon" is in this scenario.

I have a feeling that Danny covets his pile of assets just a little too much.  He's trying to hold onto everything until he can pull off another KG / Allen kind of blockbuster move.  I just don't think it's going to happen.

At some point, when you hoard things in the refrigerator and never use them, they start going bad and your apartment starts to stink.  We haven't quite reached that point yet, but we're getting there.

Perhaps getting into the top 10 would have required an "overpay," but if that's what it takes to acquire a talent who can actually be a valuable piece and move your rebuild forward, so be it. 

I'd rather have Danny "overpay" -- especially if it involves unloading some of these middle of the road role players clogging up the roster -- rather than he insist on being "Trader Danny" who's always trying to bamboozle other GMs and get a great deal.

[Alleyoopster]

It's interesting to note that when Danny made the Nets trade and made other moves to acquire more draft picks he was hailed a hero by just about everyone on this board.  Now that the picks didn't pan out to be valued by other teams he gets hammered for the choices he made. And, for not rolling the dice some more.  In reality that's why casinos make so much money. Too many players don't know when to quit. 

I get the feeling that even if Danny had been able to make the moves that Cleveland made (hypothetically speaking of course) and the results were the same, i.e., losing in the Finals, there still be a chorus of disdain towards him.  There would a group focusing on how Danny blew two number one picks for Mozgov.....and little to nothing brought out about 3 major players out with injuries.