Our Pursuit Of Anthony Davis

[Roy H.]

My premise: Anthony Davis was Danny Ainge’s white whale.  He pursued him over several seasons, making deals that set us up perfectly to add Davis as a final piece of the puzzle.

Danny’s dream was realistic. When he acquired Kyrie, there is no doubt in my mind that he envisioned a team like this:

Horford
Davis
Hayward
Brown
Kyrie

That is the type of team, at least on paper, that can win multiple championships. And, for a time, it looked like it was a likelihood, rather than a pipe dream.

As Danny was reaching for that perfect team, he passed on multiple opportunities. Among the players that we reportedly had a shot at were Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

How do we judge Danny’s reasoning? Not the results: it’s clear that things did not work out as well as they could have.  But, the plan itself could be judged as pretty sound. Things went sideways starting with IT‘s injury, followed by Hayward’s, followed by Davis teaming up with Rich Paul.  But, was all of the preparation, all of the passing on big names, worth it just for a shot at dominance?

Or, is there a lesson here about fixating upon one player and ignoring other opportunities?

(And yes, before anybody else pointed out, a lot of this is conjecture and educated guessing.)

[Birdman]

Your correct!! Reason why he stockpile all those picks..Thought he was going get Davis and probably would until Davis said he wouldn’t resign here

[86MaxwellSmart]

My premise: Anthony Davis was Danny Ainge’s white whale.  He pursued him over several seasons, making deals that set us up perfectly to add Davis as a final piece of the puzzle.

Danny’s dream was realistic. When he acquired Kyrie, there is no doubt in my mind that he envisioned a team like this:

Horford
Davis
Hayward
Brown
Kyrie

That is the type of team, at least on paper, that can win multiple championships. And, for a time, it looked like it was a likelihood, rather than a pipe dream.

As Danny was reaching for that perfect team, he passed on multiple opportunities. Among the players that we reportedly had a shot at were Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

How do we judge Danny’s reasoning? Not the results: it’s clear that things did not work out as well as they could have.  But, the plan itself could be judged as pretty sound. Things went sideways starting with IT‘s injury, followed by Hayward’s, followed by Davis teaming up with Rich Paul.  But, was all of the preparation, all of the passing on big names, worth it just for a shot at dominance?

Or, is there a lesson here about fixating upon one player and ignoring other opportunities?

(And yes, before anybody else pointed out, a lot of this is conjecture and educated guessing.)

He seems to have the same MO as I did with girls....it's why I'm still single.

[Roy H.]

My premise: Anthony Davis was Danny Ainge’s white whale.  He pursued him over several seasons, making deals that set us up perfectly to add Davis as a final piece of the puzzle.

Danny’s dream was realistic. When he acquired Kyrie, there is no doubt in my mind that he envisioned a team like this:

Horford
Davis
Hayward
Brown
Kyrie

That is the type of team, at least on paper, that can win multiple championships. And, for a time, it looked like it was a likelihood, rather than a pipe dream.

As Danny was reaching for that perfect team, he passed on multiple opportunities. Among the players that we reportedly had a shot at were Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

How do we judge Danny’s reasoning? Not the results: it’s clear that things did not work out as well as they could have.  But, the plan itself could be judged as pretty sound. Things went sideways starting with IT‘s injury, followed by Hayward’s, followed by Davis teaming up with Rich Paul.  But, was all of the preparation, all of the passing on big names, worth it just for a shot at dominance?

Or, is there a lesson here about fixating upon one player and ignoring other opportunities?

(And yes, before anybody else pointed out, a lot of this is conjecture and educated guessing.)

He seems to have the same MO as I did with girls....it's why I'm still single.

Lol.  Aim high.  He did land KG using that strategy.

[NKY fan]

My premise: Anthony Davis was Danny Ainge’s white whale.  He pursued him over several seasons, making deals that set us up perfectly to add Davis as a final piece of the puzzle.

Danny’s dream was realistic. When he acquired Kyrie, there is no doubt in my mind that he envisioned a team like this:

Horford
Davis
Hayward
Brown
Kyrie

That is the type of team, at least on paper, that can win multiple championships. And, for a time, it looked like it was a likelihood, rather than a pipe dream.

As Danny was reaching for that perfect team, he passed on multiple opportunities. Among the players that we reportedly had a shot at were Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

How do we judge Danny’s reasoning? Not the results: it’s clear that things did not work out as well as they could have.  But, the plan itself could be judged as pretty sound. Things went sideways starting with IT‘s injury, followed by Hayward’s, followed by Davis teaming up with Rich Paul.  But, was all of the preparation, all of the passing on big names, worth it just for a shot at dominance?

Or, is there a lesson here about fixating upon one player and ignoring other opportunities?

(And yes, before anybody else pointed out, a lot of this is conjecture and educated guessing.)

I am not sure if he was fixated on AD. One obscure rule of not being allowed to have two rookie max extension contracts on the payroll if their were not drafted by the celtics seemingly prevented this from happening. I am not sure if Danny was aware of the rule when he traded for Kyrie.
Another big question mark is who is your leader? I would think Kyrie would claim that because of his "champion experience" ... I think Danny's plan was fine but he misfired by acquiring Kyrie. Maybe he could have tried another star guard but Kyrie became available first.

[JBcat]

Well it was very clear Tatum would have been going in a package for Davis.

But for the rest of the players maybe not as clear who we would giving up, and I probably wouldn’t give up Tatum for any of them, and maybe not Brown either.

The thought of having Tatum and Brown for several years together with them being so young excites me.

[td450]

My premise: Anthony Davis was Danny Ainge’s white whale.  He pursued him over several seasons, making deals that set us up perfectly to add Davis as a final piece of the puzzle.

Danny’s dream was realistic. When he acquired Kyrie, there is no doubt in my mind that he envisioned a team like this:

Horford
Davis
Hayward
Brown
Kyrie

That is the type of team, at least on paper, that can win multiple championships. And, for a time, it looked like it was a likelihood, rather than a pipe dream.

As Danny was reaching for that perfect team, he passed on multiple opportunities. Among the players that we reportedly had a shot at were Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.

How do we judge Danny’s reasoning? Not the results: it’s clear that things did not work out as well as they could have.  But, the plan itself could be judged as pretty sound. Things went sideways starting with IT‘s injury, followed by Hayward’s, followed by Davis teaming up with Rich Paul.  But, was all of the preparation, all of the passing on big names, worth it just for a shot at dominance?

Or, is there a lesson here about fixating upon one player and ignoring other opportunities?

(And yes, before anybody else pointed out, a lot of this is conjecture and educated guessing.)

I don't doubt that Ainge considered that a possible opportunity, but to say it was a master plan is to say Ainge is highly irrational, which he just isn't. I doubt he ever saw the odds of getting him ever approach anything close to 50%. All you can do is maximize your assets and hope something good comes along when you're ready.

[Roy H.]

  All you can do is maximize your assets and hope something good comes along when you're ready.

But sees, that’s the rub, and why he was focused on Davis.  Something good *did* come along, multiple times.  There is no doubt that we could have acquired Kawhi or Paul George.  Cousins and Butler were also passed on.  Those guys range from MVP candidates to All-NBAers.

It just seemed like Danny was holding out for a bigger prize.  He had the ammunition to hit a home run, but held out for the grand slam that we all coveted.

[Moranis]

Well it was very clear Tatum would have been going in a package for Davis.

But for the rest of the players maybe not as clear who we would giving up, and I probably wouldn’t give up Tatum for any of them, and maybe not Brown either.

The thought of having Tatum and Brown for several years together with them being so young excites me.

I don't know that Tatum would have been needed for Davis.  Smart, Brown, and several picks might have been enough, especially depending on what New Orleans thought of Brown in relation to what the Lakers were offering i.e. Ingram, Ball, and #4. 

[PhoSita]

It's really hard to incorporate "LeBron commandeers a player rep agency for himself, gets that player agency to take over the franchise he's on, and then exerts undue influence to force a franchise to trade the superstar of his choice to play beside him" into your plans.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Roy, I think you're on the mark when you say that Danny seemed to have AD in focus as his "big fish" for a long time, and that that's why he passed on several other good possibilities (Kawhi, George, Butler, etc.).

The big questions I've had throughout all of this, and still have, are these:

• When did AD decide that it was "Lakers or bust" for him?
• And how soon could Danny have known about that?

Because IF it's the case that AD had already made up his mind a couple of seasons before the trade, then I feel that Danny could've and SHOULD'VE known that, as part of doing his due diligence, and at that point he should've immediately abandoned his pursuit of AD. If he kept up the hope of getting AD despite knowing that AD wanted only the Lakers, then that's a major mistake by Danny. Does anyone here know the answers to these questions?

[bdm860]

  All you can do is maximize your assets and hope something good comes along when you're ready.

But sees, that’s the rub, and why he was focused on Davis.  Something good *did* come along, multiple times.  There is no doubt that we could have acquired Kawhi or Paul George.  Cousins and Butler were also passed on.  Those guys range from MVP candidates to All-NBAers.

It just seemed like Danny was holding out for a bigger prize.  He had the ammunition to hit a home run, but held out for the grand slam that we all coveted.

Maybe the downside to Danny's plan, and nothing he can really do to control this, is the order of the stars' decisions.  The prize he was after could only reasonably be attained in '19 after all those other options were off the table.  Rough layout in what I think is chronological order:

Cousins traded in '17, but injured before free agency in '18
PG traded in '17, re-signed in '18
Butler traded in '17, traded in '18, signed in '19
Kawhi traded in '18, signed in '19
AD traded in '19, re-signed in '20

Had AD's contract lined up to be at the start or middle of that list, instead of the end, then Danny might have been able to pivot to someone else (like PG or Kawhi or Butler) before all his assets left/expired.  Not sure what you can do to control this though (other than not target AD to begin with, or go all in for your backup options when your #1 option is still on the table).

[Moranis]

As for the thread premise, I've been pretty vocal about Danny's failure in this exact regard.  He was so fixated on that one tree in the forest that he missed all of the other trees in the forest.  But this has been Danny's m.o. for a very long time.  He just really really likes what he has and just doesn't pull the trigger unless he is guaranteed of a sure thing.  And some of what he passed up wouldn't have cost all that much.  I mean the Paul George trade was something like Crowder, LAL/SAC pick (eventually Langford), LAC or MEM pick (eventually Thybulle or Nesmith), and salary filler.  Ainge passed that up because he didn't want to make the trade before securing Hayward, but in order to secure Hayward he had to trade Bradley.  Now obviously there is no real way to know where those picks would have ended up and maybe Hayward really wouldn't have been possible had he made that trade, but the reality is George was then and still is better than Hayward and I'd much rather have had George and Bradley vs. Hayward, Crowder, Langford, and Nesmith as George would have quite simply been the best player Boston had since KG (yes better than Irving). 

And the I'm sure the Irving trade would have still been possible using the exact same assets with Bradley instead of Crowder.  How different does Boston look with Irving, George, and Horford in their prime with Smart, Brown, and Tatum coming along than what we ended up with?  That team very well might have made the Finals that first season, which hopefully would have encouraged George to re-sign in Boston (just as he did in OKC).  If George re-upped, then I think Ainge would have been more inclined to move Brown for Leonard.  Imagine that juggernaut.  Irving, Leonard, George, Tatum, and Horford.  Team would have been unstoppable.  Might have only been a season, but still no way that team doesn't win the Finals and frankly even without Leonard, might have come out of the East and beaten the injured Warriors.

Lots of what ifs of course, but also a certainly plausible and realistic path.

As I've consistently stated, acquiring Irving wasn't the problem, the problem was acquiring Irving and then not pulling the trigger on Leonard.  Why acquire a #2 (Irving), if you aren't going to pull the trigger when a #1 (Leonard) becomes available.  If he was never going to acquire the #1, he never should have acquired the #2. 

[gift]

Roy, I think you're on the mark when you say that Danny seemed to have AD in focus as his "big fish" for a long time, and that that's why he passed on several other good possibilities (Kawhi, George, Butler, etc.).

The big questions I've had throughout all of this, and still have, are these:

• When did AD decide that it was "Lakers or bust" for him?
• And how soon could Danny have known about that?

Because IF it's the case that AD had already made up his mind a couple of seasons before the trade, then I feel that Danny could've and SHOULD'VE known that, as part of doing his due diligence, and at that point he should've immediately abandoned his pursuit of AD. If he kept up the hope of getting AD despite knowing that AD wanted only the Lakers, then that's a major mistake by Danny. Does anyone here know the answers to these questions?

I don't know the answers but it certainly seems like September 2018ish, when AD hired Rich Paul and was ushered to LA. That seems like the earliest anyone could have reasonably known. As a poster above pointed out, by then the other big fish were taken.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Didn't Davis' dad say his son wouldn't be going to Boston, because of how we treated IT...?