Author Topic: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge  (Read 9026 times)

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Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« on: February 27, 2021, 12:33:17 PM »

Offline footey

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On thursday's Celtics Beat podcast, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe laid the blame for the Celtics' problems primarily on Danny Ainge and the front office scouting team. He said that have done horribly in the draft, and singled out the Yabusele, Zizic and Young picks. Said if they liked Herro so much they should have moved up in the draft.  Basically said that they are poor talent evaluators, and should add a former NBA player to the scouting team, and someone like Mike Schmidt of ESPN who specializes in scouting.  He also was confounded by the Bane trade with the 30th pick, and said if we had cleared roster space we could have drafted and signed him, or the Michigan State kid.

He also was somewhat dismissive of Mike Gorman's take that the two stars are ball stoppers, saying they have no one to pass it to, singling out Theis and Semi as inadequated shooters or scorers.  He said that Brown's "no comment" frustration is with his untalented teammates.

Said that the Celtics need to cut their losses for bad draft picks, again singling out keeping guys like Yabu way too long.  He said the best organizations are not sentimental about their players, and noted the Lakers and Nets as two teams that are very effective is signing/cutting guys quickly until they find the right mix.

I don't agree much with his assessments. He was especially critical of Theis, which seemed a bit odd and off putting. 

Curious what you guys think.

Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #1 on: February 27, 2021, 01:03:57 PM »

Offline seancally

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Whatever, Gary. Draft is a crapshoot. No GM has a spotless record. There were some big whiffs and some home runs. C’s at full strength have 4 draftees in the starting lineup, including 2 all-stars and 1 all-defensive guard. Then have several draftees off the bench. That was an ECF team last year so idk what people want from Danny.
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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #2 on: February 27, 2021, 01:05:23 PM »

Offline hpantazo

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I think Theis has been great at both ends of the floor. It doesn't make sense to put any of the criticism on him.

He's right that they've messed up with their draft picks with guys like Young, Yabusele, Zizic, etc.

But, they nailed it with Brown, Tatum, Smart, Rozier, Rob Williams, Pritchard and Semi. I mean, Semi was a 2nd round pick who's turned into a solid rotation guy who can defend multiple positions and hit the 3. You can't criticize that pick by expecting him to be more than that.

I agree they should have moved up for Herro, but do we know if they tried to and what teams were asking for to move up?

Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #3 on: February 27, 2021, 01:18:25 PM »

Offline Mike Pemulis

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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #4 on: February 27, 2021, 01:19:09 PM »

Offline ozgod

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Gary has been mad at Ainge for quite some time. Maybe he was snubbed for an interview or something.

Clearly Ainge needs to take responsibility for this year's roster construction for not having enough talent, and probably for the 2018-19 team for being too talented, but his teams have still made the ECF 3 of the last 4 years. And a number of the things that Gary is unhappy about date back to years ago. Yabu? James Young?
Any odd typos are because I suck at typing on an iPhone :D


Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #5 on: February 27, 2021, 01:19:18 PM »

Offline Mike Pemulis

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What trade should we make to fix that issue?
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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2021, 01:33:53 PM »

Online Roy H.

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This is just another hot take.

There’s plenty of room for criticism, but he provides no context or fairness.


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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #7 on: February 27, 2021, 01:34:04 PM »

Offline Wretch

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This was pretty [dang]ing, but sure he’s trader dan!!!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2818840-anthony-davis-father-rips-celtics-for-no-loyalty-with-isaiah-thomas.amp.html

Those comments should be taken with a massive grain of salt.  Clutch wanted AD to go to LA ASAP and they were signaling through the press to the Cs don't trade for AD. There might be stars/agents (Lebron and Clutch) that want to be the de facto GMs that don't want to sign with the Cs but, Horford, Hayward, and Kemba all came to Boston.  Most FAs that leave the Cs sign massive contracts when they leave (Evan Turner, Horford, and Hayward) so playing for DA and Stevens helps their values. 

DA also tries to put players in good positions when they leave.  IT was traded to a Championship contender and Kanter was given the choice of teams to go to and chose Portland.  Name the last player DA traded to a dumpster fire franchise? Baynes to Phoenix is the only one I can think of, but Baynes was given to chance to start on a team that had a lot of young talent.

Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #8 on: February 27, 2021, 01:55:05 PM »

Offline NKY fan

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So which of us Danny bashers on here is G. Washburn account? Lol...

Anyway I think he is going too far with his bashing... I think it’s more fair to say that given Danny’s track record with yabu, young and such he insisted on keep drafting multiple late first rounders instead of trading them for vet help... it’s not alike his last 2-3 drafts have been horrible it’s just that those late picks are doing what’s expected from there draft range - not contributing to winning consistently which gets people frustrated ..

Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #9 on: February 27, 2021, 01:55:42 PM »

Offline knuckleballer

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Gary Washburn on what the Celtics should do in the 2017 NBA draft:

“ There is ample opportunity to improve, and the first step is taking skilled guard Markelle Fultz with the first overall pick. The Celtics need to upgrade their frontcourt, but they may be able to do that without sacrificing the first overall pick.

Unless the Celtics are able to land a potential franchise center, there is little reason to trade the first pick. Fultz, from those in NBA circles, has a chance to be special, and Ainge will not pass on the opportunity to draft possibly the next great Celtic.”

http://c.o0bg.com/sports/celtics/2017/05/27/celtics-must-take-next-step-this-offseason/FRDfFPYsPoyOJbA7pK5n9L/story.html

Nice job, Gary.

Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #10 on: February 27, 2021, 02:19:33 PM »

Offline slamtheking

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Gary Washburn on what the Celtics should do in the 2017 NBA draft:

“ There is ample opportunity to improve, and the first step is taking skilled guard Markelle Fultz with the first overall pick. The Celtics need to upgrade their frontcourt, but they may be able to do that without sacrificing the first overall pick.

Unless the Celtics are able to land a potential franchise center, there is little reason to trade the first pick. Fultz, from those in NBA circles, has a chance to be special, and Ainge will not pass on the opportunity to draft possibly the next great Celtic.”

http://c.o0bg.com/sports/celtics/2017/05/27/celtics-must-take-next-step-this-offseason/FRDfFPYsPoyOJbA7pK5n9L/story.html

Nice job, Gary.
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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #11 on: February 27, 2021, 03:08:57 PM »

Online Big333223

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He's right that they've messed up with their draft picks with guys like Young, Yabusele, Zizic, etc.

But, they nailed it with Brown, Tatum, Smart, Rozier, Rob Williams, Pritchard and Semi. I mean, Semi was a 2nd round pick who's turned into a solid rotation guy who can defend multiple positions and hit the 3. You can't criticize that pick by expecting him to be more than that.

I agree with this.

There's been some very bad ones (Young) but there's also been some very good ones (Rozier) and there's been some fine ones (Olynyk) and they really nailed the picks when they were the most valuable (Tatum and Brown). There's still guys developing and getting better so we'll see about them but calling this team bad at drafting over the last ten years seems flat-out wrong.
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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #12 on: February 27, 2021, 03:16:06 PM »

Online Roy H.

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I think I was about the only Celtics fan at the time who didn’t like the Young pick.  Well, not in reality, but it was a very popular pic. I was all in on Gary Harris, and I know that some fans really liked Rodney Hood, but Young was a high upside pick.

The other guy I liked that year, strangely, was Joe Harris. I say strangely because I suck at drafting, but I actually found a diamond that year.

What a weird draft. I think you can make a strong argument that picks number 31 through number 41 were better than number one through number 10.


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Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #13 on: February 27, 2021, 03:24:33 PM »

Offline todd_days_41

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As previously stated, I'd take Ainge to perform virtually any task over his NBA GM peers..... EXCEPT draft a guy with a pick ending in 'teen. He's the Kelly Olynyk of NBA GMs at that job.



Re: Gary Washburn: Blame Danny Ainge
« Reply #14 on: February 27, 2021, 03:36:46 PM »

Offline Kuberski33

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I agree with the point about Ainge's drafting and the scouting. It has played a role in creating this current situation. And say what you will about Theis - the guy absolutely cannot finish around the basket unless it's an uncontested dunk.
That said, he's still a bargain for what he's making.

I do agree that they need to cut their losses with some of these guys who obviously cannot play. I know they're cheap roster filler guys but most teams have projects in those spots who they hope may one day develop into serviceable rotation guys. 

I get the impression that Ainge keeps these guys around for too long simply because he chose them and refuses to admit that they can't play in the league.  Every time a Carsen Edwards has a decent game Danny convinces himself that he may yet turn into a decent player.