Name your top 3 Danny Ainge out of the box hits.

[Androslav]

Out of the box would be something unexpected, even unprecedented:

1) Brad Stevens hire - "Brad who? He is younger than our players!" (KG is, Terry/PP are actually a year younger)
2) Drafting and making "Big Baby" a legit NBA player. Has T-rex arms, is wider than taller, I admit, I never saw it happening.
3) Kyrie-IT stunner, even more than the KG-PP trade since we knew that the legends were basically done at that point. IT was our Peter Pan, he made us happy like we were kids once again. It's even more surprising considering that Kyrie dismantled us just a couple of months before.

[Chris22]

Jiří Welsch for Cleveland's first round pick which got us KG.

I believe it was Rondo.

Sorry, my mistake.

[GreenShooter]

KG trade, Nets deal, CBS hire

Bing, Bang, Boom!

[KGBirdBias]

Can we sign Greg Monroe if he's bought out by Suns? Does he fit DPE eligilbiliy?

[Darío SpanishFan]

I am just not sure that the KG trade qualifies as an 'out of the box' move. Wont any GM have made that trade at that  time. KG was a superstar, no?

This. I wouldn't consider KG deal with the title premise.

1. Hiring Stevens.
2. Having balls to do the Nets deal, with Pierce and Garnett meaning everything emotionally in Boston.
3. Getting IT for almost nothing.

Honorable mention: Buying a non-lottery pick in a bad draft (low price) to get Rondo.

[Diggles]

The balls to trade for Ray Allen to get the KG trade, Nets deal, CBS hire

[MJohnnyboy]

Jiří Welsch for Cleveland's first round pick which got us KG.

I believe it was Rondo.

Sorry, my mistake.

No worries. Here's a TP because that was an underrated genius move by Ainge.

[sdceltsfan]

The trades for Allen/KG were not out of the box, so much as they were out of left field. Every GM in every sport, managing a middle of the pack team is sitting in a sniper tower, waiting for a moment like that to present itself. DA gets credit, but as far as "out of the box" goes, does not apply.

1. The PP/KG trade however does. He even had to assume that the first two, maybe even three picks were going to be hot garbage at the end of the first. Not one person saw the level of paydirt the organization would hit on that trade. This has to be number one. The team would not be remotely close to where it is now.

2. IT for nothing trade. I honestly would have to look it up. I know it amounted to nothing, and wow did it lead to us landing one of my favorite celtics of the modern era. Sucked to see IT go, but this move also led to the out of the box, trading with the enemy deal that brought us Kyrie Irving. 

3. Rondo for cash??? One of DA's biggest draft instinct hits, by far. Every draft analysis said Rondo would/should be a top 10 pick, "if only he could shoot..."

I am extra partial to #3 because I had the pleasure of running in to Steve Kerr (GM of the Suns at the time) at a Padres/Diamondbacks game shortly after we won the finals (I live in SD). I got to walk by him and say "Hey Steve, thanks for Rondo!!!" Had my Celtics hat on. It was wonderful!

[Moranis]

I think the Allen trade was definitely out of the box because Allen alone would not have made Boston a contender.  It was an incredibly risky move to make, especially given Allen's age and injury history. 

Drafting Al Jefferson, especially coming off a draft when he took Perkins who looked awful as a rookie, seemed like a huge gamble to me at the time.

Hiring Doc Rivers.  That one seemed more strange to me than Stevens.  Everyone was talking about Stevens coming to the NBA, but Rivers seemed way out of left field, especially since he had been fired in Orlando for starting 1-10 the prior season and generally had limited success. And this coming from a guy that can't stand Rivers and never could.  I always hated that guy, but it really did work out well for Boston in the end.

[Granath]

The trifecta, in order.

1. Nets trade. This will go down as perhaps the most lopsided trade in NBA history depending on your viewpoint, especially of Jaylen and Tatum end up as All Stars.

2. IT. I think they acquired the Cleveland pick from a freakin' trade exception. Think about that. Danny got a MVP candidate for a trade exception.

3. Stevens. Brad's acquisition is ranked 3rd because it is more obvious than the other two. While there was a bias against hiring college coaches at the time, Stevens was considered by the Thunder back in 2012. But Danny is the one who pulled the trigger. Not only that, he gave him a 6 year, $22m contract. He was far more affordable than Doc Rivers but that's still an enormous amount and time frame for a rookie coach to get. But Danny wanted to make sure Brad was locked up as the team turned around and it's turned out to be a master stroke.

Honorable mention: KG trade, making the incredibly risky move to trade Jeff Green for Ray Allen, buying the pick to get Rondo for $3m, drafting Al Jefferson. The Irving and Tatum deals are TBD. 

[tarheelsxxiii]

1. Mittens; 2. KG trade; 3. BKN deal