Did Ainge Have the Worst Offseason

[wdleehi]

I like to think Danny has a plan.  I think his patience will pay off. 

It might pay off in late Feb.  People predict their will be lots of action at the deadline.  Something might fall in our laps.

And long term we are in pretty good shape.

Danny may have had a plan.  But it wasn't a good one and it failed miserably.

How's the future?  Is Obama doing well?   Did Tom Brady ever return to form?

So is the plan that the Celtics get lucky and the perfect bench player drops from the sky?  Does Ainge have the crystal ball?



I sure hope something shakes out.   But that is no way to plan for the future of a team. 

[LarBrd33]

I like to think Danny has a plan.  I think his patience will pay off. 

It might pay off in late Feb.  People predict their will be lots of action at the deadline.  Something might fall in our laps.

And long term we are in pretty good shape.

Danny may have had a plan.  But it wasn't a good one and it failed miserably.

How's the future?  Is Obama doing well?   Did Tom Brady ever return to form?

So is the plan that the Celtics get lucky and the perfect bench player drops from the sky?  Does Ainge have the crystal ball?



I sure hope something shakes out.   But that is no way to plan for the future of a team. 

yep and overpaying Posey would have been a desperation move. 

[wdleehi]

I like to think Danny has a plan.  I think his patience will pay off. 

It might pay off in late Feb.  People predict their will be lots of action at the deadline.  Something might fall in our laps.

And long term we are in pretty good shape.

Danny may have had a plan.  But it wasn't a good one and it failed miserably.

How's the future?  Is Obama doing well?   Did Tom Brady ever return to form?

So is the plan that the Celtics get lucky and the perfect bench player drops from the sky?  Does Ainge have the crystal ball?



I sure hope something shakes out.   But that is no way to plan for the future of a team. 

yep and overpaying Posey would have been a desperation move. 

No.


Having a better read on the situation and signing a replacement before they were off the market would have been.

Having a better read on what PJ would do and signing a big man that could play instead of POB.

[MBz]

I love how people mention that Ainge went out and drafted two NBA ready players.  Two NBA ready players who are not playing in the NBA right now..EXCELLENT!  Ultimately if these guys are ready for the league then they need to be playing.  Until we give these guys a shot, I don't want to judge Ainge's offseason.  When these guys were drafted, I was under the impression that since they were NBA ready they(or one) would be playing some minutes.  You would think Bill Walker's toughness in the pre-season would have gotten him some on the active roster.  To me, he's a guy who can make a difference on this squad right now.  He can be Pierce's back up and if they want to go small in the 2nd unit, he can be the 4 as he's had experience doing it in college. 

[BudweiserCeltic]

I have no doubt in my mind that both should get some playing time even if it's simply to judge how they will handle playing in real NBA games against real NBA players. You can evaluate these players all you want outside of games, but that's not all there is to it. But, it's also quite hard to insert them in game situation when they haven't been with the club all year and have not practiced much with the team.

And I don't care about their potential... I think both can improve our bench as they currently are with all their current flaws.

[MBz]

I absolutely agree.  No one can tell whether Walker, Giddens or even O'Bryant are ready to play at the NBA level, until they get some NBA playing time.  Until you give these guys a shot, how do they know?  Walkers two best traits are being tough and being athletic, seems like something that could help the second unit.  House, Baby, and Powe really aren't stellar athletes in my mind.  I'm not saying they are bad athletes, I just think Walker's athleticism can help the unit.

[wdleehi]

I absolutely agree.  No one can tell whether Walker, Giddens or even O'Bryant are ready to play at the NBA level, until they get some NBA playing time.  Until you give these guys a shot, how do they know?  Walkers two best traits are being tough and being athletic, seems like something that could help the second unit.  House, Baby, and Powe really aren't stellar athletes in my mind.  I'm not saying they are bad athletes, I just think Walker's athleticism can help the unit.

I am sorry, but POB is not in the same group as Walker and Giddens.  He has been in the NBA before this season.  He has had a good coach.  He just seems to be a non NBA player.

[Jon]

I know this was discussed ad nauseum in another thread, but I still can't get over Ainge not signing Posey.  Yes, those who say that he'd be an absolute waste of money by the 4th or even 3rd year are dead right; however, you've got be drinking a whole lot of Kool-aid and wearing some pretty green tinted glasses to think that this team is going to be seriously contending in 3-4 years.  Hey, I'd like to believe Ainge can somehow seamlessly segue this current Big Three into a new one; however, history and logic tell us that the chances of that happening are extremely small. 

Hopefully Ainge comes up with something to pick this team up, whether it's a buy out or trade.  However, if that doesn't happen and this team narrowly misses out on winning a title, I think we can all agree that he was fairly foolish in letting Posey go in the name of financial flexibility during a time when this team will likely be rebuilding. 

[BballTim]

I know this was discussed ad nauseum in another thread, but I still can't get over Ainge not signing Posey.  Yes, those who say that he'd be an absolute waste of money by the 4th or even 3rd year are dead right; however, you've got be drinking a whole lot of Kool-aid and wearing some pretty green tinted glasses to think that this team is going to be seriously contending in 3-4 years.

  Nowhere near as much kool-aid as you'd have been drinking 2 years ago to think we'd be contending now, let alone defending champions.

[winsomme]

 Clearly Ainge wanted Posey back. The fact that he didn't offer Posey all of that money over 4 years is a pretty strong indication that signing him would have caused issues. I don't think that Danny's shared that issue with us, whether it's based on his budget or future financial considerations. That doesn't imply that a reason doesn't exist.

the reports that i heard were that they didn't get a chance to match the deal Pose got with NO.

so the ultimate decision about how important these financial considerations were for that 4th year (remember they offered the full for 3 years) was actually taken out of their hands.

we will never know for sure if they would have matched, but my impression was, given that they passed on the rest of the FAs out their to wait for Pose, that they would have gone that 4th year...

  Ainge may or may not have had the chance to match NO's offer but he certainly had the chance to offer Posey a 4 year deal and it seemed pretty clear that Posey would have stayed for that money. Ainge (at some point) offered Posey 3 years. Posey's agent said no because they wanted a longer deal. Ainge didn't offer the 4th year.

  Also, there were a lot of reports that we were talking to Maggette before he isgned with GS. Clearly they were looking at other options while they were talking to Posey.

Ainge also could have added other players if he had absolutely no intention of going to that 4th year, but he continued to wait for Posey.

we're never going to know for sure what exactly went down, but the team  was clearly willing to adjust their offers to Posey as the summer went along. I mean, wasn't their initial offer something like 2yrs for 7 mil....and their last known offer was something like 3yrs for 19 mil...

personally i think Danny's dealings with Pose were based on thinking that nobody was going to offer that 4th year full MLE....

now whether they would have gone that 4th year if given the chance or if they had the chance and turned it down....i guess we'll never know for sure...

but after listening to Wyc tonight, i'm even more convinced that when combined with the fact that Danny waited on Pose, the team would have gone that 4th year....

the team has such a huge incentive to get another TItle this year.

[Ed Teach]

In one of my late night basketball dreams involves Shane Battier coming off the Celtics bench.  To me he is a perfect fit for this team. In my dream, he completly shuts down Kobe in the finals leading the Celtics to another banner.
He may be the most under rated player in the NBA. A defensive specialist, with a great jump shot.  The only negative that I can up with about Battier is his college career was at Duke, but I have been able overlook that he played at my mosted hated team (other than the Lakers)
It was highly unlikely the C's could have pulled it off, but hasen't prevented me from dreaming about him as a Celtic.

When the Rockets picked up Ron Artest it seemed very likely he would be available.  With Artest, Scola, Laundry, etc. Shane would be the odd man out.  Unfortuntly, the Rocket were able to keep him.  Another reason that the Rockets had the best offseason in the NBA.

I know that this is a random rambling, but I thought talking about my sickness is the first step toward healing.

[2short]

Agree on Battier!
Walker after last night is nba ready.  POB is quickly proving he won't help this year.  Joe Smith sightings?

[CoachBo]

I think you want to be careful about over-romanticizing a young player. One game against a bad team is all it is for Billy Walker, and it doesn't prove a whole lot.

But ... I continue to contend he is the better of Ainge's two draft picks last summer, and one of the few positives to emerge from the summer.

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

I think you want to be careful about over-romanticizing a young player. One game against a bad team is all it is for Billy Walker, and it doesn't prove a whole lot.

But ... I continue to contend he is the better of Ainge's two draft picks last summer, and one of the few positives to emerge from the summer.

No love for Semih?? 

[papa shuttlesworth]

In one of my late night basketball dreams involves Shane Battier coming off the Celtics bench.  To me he is a perfect fit for this team. In my dream, he completly shuts down Kobe in the finals leading the Celtics to another banner.
He may be the most under rated player in the NBA. A defensive specialist, with a great jump shot.  The only negative that I can up with about Battier is his college career was at Duke, but I have been able overlook that he played at my mosted hated team (other than the Lakers)

I agree.  He'd be a great addition.  I normally hate Duke, but of all their players in the NBA, Battier is the most tolerable.  

He also does a great Mutombo impression.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn6xcY752B0