Danny looks back at Boston trade possibilities

[Moranis]

It depends on what the Davis trade would have been, but there is certainly a scenario in which Boston has won multiple championships with Davis and Irving. 

[Muzzy66]

Yeah, in spite of every team having misses everything, its crazy to think of THIS alternate reality now.  And while I am here, I still give DA immense credit for making the JB and JT picks.  I venture to guess that not a single GM would have made both picks.

Ainge honestly did some of the best drafting ive ever seen in his time as Boston GM.  In addition to taking gambles on Brown and Tatum, he also took:

* Al Jefferson at #15 in 2004 who went on to be a perennial 15/10 guy and had a very long and successful career
* Tony Allen at #25 in 2004 who went on to be one of the best defensive guards in probably the history of the game
* Traded for Rajon Rondo at Pick # 21 in 2006, who was arguably a top 3 PG in the NBA during his prime and one of the best pure passing PGs ever
* Avery Bradley at Pick # 19 in 2010 who went on to be a very good starter and two-way guard
* Jarred Sullinger at #21 in 2012 who was a good starter in the league for a number of years before ultimately eating himself out of the NBA
* Marcus Smart at Pick #6 in 2014 who went on to win a DPOTY award
* Terry Rozier at Pick # 16 in 2015 who went on to be a regular 19/5/4 guy for the Hornets
* Robert Williams at pick #27th in 2018 who is one of the better bigs in the NBA and has future DPOTY potential if he can stay healthy
* Grant Williams at #22 in 2019 who has become an elite 3PT shooter and one of the best bench players in the NBA and will likely start for his next team

It's fairly rare for guys drafted outside of the top 10 to become starting calibre players in the NBA, and yet 8 of the 9 guys I just listed were drated by Danny outside of the lottery and went on to become starting calibre players.

That's an unbelievable success rate drafting in those higher ranges.

Edit:  Just realised I forgot about Kelly Olynyk, who was also drafted late and has been a very productive guy in the league.

[radiohead]

^ Yes! If ever we end up winning it all this year, I hope Wyc and company decide to retire Danny’s #44 too.

[chicagoceltic]

Yeah, in spite of every team having misses everything, its crazy to think of THIS alternate reality now.  And while I am here, I still give DA immense credit for making the JB and JT picks.  I venture to guess that not a single GM would have made both picks.

Ainge honestly did some of the best drafting ive ever seen in his time as Boston GM.  In addition to taking gambles on Brown and Tatum, he also took:

* Al Jefferson at #15 in 2004 who went on to be a perennial 15/10 guy and had a very long and successful career
* Tony Allen at #25 in 2004 who went on to be one of the best defensive guards in probably the history of the game
* Traded for Rajon Rondo at Pick # 21 in 2006, who was arguably a top 3 PG in the NBA during his prime and one of the best pure passing PGs ever
* Avery Bradley at Pick # 19 in 2010 who went on to be a very good starter and two-way guard
* Jarred Sullinger at #21 in 2012 who was a good starter in the league for a number of years before ultimately eating himself out of the NBA
* Marcus Smart at Pick #6 in 2014 who went on to win a DPOTY award
* Terry Rozier at Pick # 16 in 2015 who went on to be a regular 19/5/4 guy for the Hornets
* Robert Williams at pick #27th in 2018 who is one of the better bigs in the NBA and has future DPOTY potential if he can stay healthy
* Grant Williams at #22 in 2019 who has become an elite 3PT shooter and one of the best bench players in the NBA and will likely start for his next team

It's fairly rare for guys drafted outside of the top 10 to become starting calibre players in the NBA, and yet 8 of the 9 guys I just listed were drated by Danny outside of the lottery and went on to become starting calibre players.

That's an unbelievable success rate drafting in those higher ranges.

Edit:  Just realised I forgot about Kelly Olynyk, who was also drafted late and has been a very productive guy in the league.

That is a negative stat here as I believe it is in the Celticsstrong bylaws that when mentioning Kelly Olynyk you must point out that DA passed up Giannis for him.

[SHAQATTACK]

Yeah, in spite of every team having misses everything, its crazy to think of THIS alternate reality now.  And while I am here, I still give DA immense credit for making the JB and JT picks.  I venture to guess that not a single GM would have made both picks.

Ainge honestly did some of the best drafting ive ever seen in his time as Boston GM.  In addition to taking gambles on Brown and Tatum, he also took:

* Al Jefferson at #15 in 2004 who went on to be a perennial 15/10 guy and had a very long and successful career
* Tony Allen at #25 in 2004 who went on to be one of the best defensive guards in probably the history of the game
* Traded for Rajon Rondo at Pick # 21 in 2006, who was arguably a top 3 PG in the NBA during his prime and one of the best pure passing PGs ever
* Avery Bradley at Pick # 19 in 2010 who went on to be a very good starter and two-way guard
* Jarred Sullinger at #21 in 2012 who was a good starter in the league for a number of years before ultimately eating himself out of the NBA
* Marcus Smart at Pick #6 in 2014 who went on to win a DPOTY award
* Terry Rozier at Pick # 16 in 2015 who went on to be a regular 19/5/4 guy for the Hornets
* Robert Williams at pick #27th in 2018 who is one of the better bigs in the NBA and has future DPOTY potential if he can stay healthy
* Grant Williams at #22 in 2019 who has become an elite 3PT shooter and one of the best bench players in the NBA and will likely start for his next team

It's fairly rare for guys drafted outside of the top 10 to become starting calibre players in the NBA, and yet 8 of the 9 guys I just listed were drated by Danny outside of the lottery and went on to become starting calibre players.

That's an unbelievable success rate drafting in those higher ranges.

Edit:  Just realised I forgot about Kelly Olynyk, who was also drafted late and has been a very productive guy in the league.

That is a negative stat here as I believe it is in the Celticsstrong bylaws that when mentioning Kelly Olynyk you must point out that DA passed up Giannis for him.

Ouch , that still stings bad

[Big333223]

I laughed at Ainge's reaction to rumors of an Anthony Davis trade (he laughed at it), saying that there never was such an opportunity. I'm just remembering all the debate here and the people accusing Ainge of "putting all his eggs in one AD basket."

Yep. It feels like most of the trade rumors we get fed from sports media is just hogwash.

I don't think the Danny interest in Davis was hogwash.

Rather, we could trade for Davis when Kyrie was still on his designated player contact.  So, there were no trade rumors then, because it was a possibility.  By the following season, Davis strong-armed his way to LA, and Kyrie left, making a Davis trade essentially impossible.  Thus, no trade was seriously discussed.

But, I do think the groundwork was laid with the Pelicans before Kyrie's change of heart blew things up.

Yeah, I'm sure Danny was interested in Davis. He was one of the best young big men in the league and there were rumors for years he wanted a trade. I'm sure Danny had a conversation with New Orleans about Davis the same way every other GM did but Danny is the only one who had articles written about him saying things like Ainge is arranging everything to get Davis. That reporting, I think, is mostly hogwash.