Years from now will we look back and think what could have been?

[PLamb]

I'm leaving my normal prose to write the following:

Danny Ainge often looks back at the years after the 1986 Boston Celtics championship and discusses how he would have done things differently. Lenny Bias passed in 1986 and Kevin McHake broke his foot in 1987 and instead of breaking up the Big Three, Red Auerbach, always a man of supreme loyalty, stayed loyal to those that got him there and road it out until the end.

Danny Ainge has on many occasions said he would have done things differently. His view has been that Red should have traded Kevin and Chief while they still had value around the league and extended the championship run with other talent. This week in the first test of Ainge's own Big Three era and loyalty it appears as if he might well be taking a very similar road as his most esteemed predecessor.

It appears that during the exact moment when Danny Ainge should have been following his own advice and trading Ray Allen when he is at his most valuable, a massive expiring contract that still has a high skill level during a recession and huge cost cutting time across the league, Danny could pull the trigger. And as the title of this thread stipulates, years from now will we look back and think what could have been? Years from now will it be team president Rajon Rondo sitting in Danny's office second guessing the wisdom of the actions Danny Ainge takes over the next 24 hours?

I don't get the move(s) that have been rumored thus far or the news from David Aldridge that Ainge is going to stand pat except for this small(no pun intended, okay maybe a little)Nate Robinson trade which is going to go a long way towards making sure Danny Ainge is married to the Big Three until 2012. Without moving the first of the most movable of the Big Three at the most opportune time to move him, Danny has relegated this team to having to ride it out trying, maybe beyond their own aging capabilities to win with this group.

I think it will be seen in the future as a huge mistake. Could trading Ray Allen have cost this team a championship this year? Sure. But they very well might be incapable of winning it all this year anyway, so who cares. Danny Ainge obviously feels otherwise. My eyes, tell me differently. This team needed a younger bunch of veins pumping young blood into this team and the opportunity for that us just about gone.

With Ray still a Celtic at 3:00PM EST tomorrow, that means he will be re-signed in the off season, back for us all to watch erode before our very eyes or he will not be back without anything to show for it. Paul Pierce will never be traded. Kevin Garnett, his gigantic contract and his bum knee has rendered him untradeable. 

Get used to it Celtic fans. What you see is probably what you get for at least the next 2 1/2 years and if a decade from now this team is waddling through the nether lands that is NBA mediocrity, we can all look back to now and the next 18 hours as the reason for it.

[Roy Hobbs]

What trade did Danny turn down / not pursue that would have either improved our chances this season or extended our window?

[Fafnir]

Sure, not for the reasons you think.

My what could have been will have to do with KG's knee. I think there was a very high chance we repeat if KG maintained his health through last season.

Like Roy, I'm very interested in what moves you think Danny passed on. The only deal I think that we could have pulled off was a trade for Jamison.

[Celts17Pride]

Just because the Celtics wanted players doesn't mean they were available.

I haven't seen Ellis, Martin or Iggy traded.

[celticinorlando]

I'm leaving my normal prose to write the following:

Danny Ainge often looks back at the years after the 1986 Boston Celtics championship and discusses how he would have done things differently. Lenny Bias passed in 1986 and Kevin McHake broke his foot in 1987 and instead of breaking up the Big Three, Red Auerbach, always a man of supreme loyalty, stayed loyal to those that got him there and road it out until the end.

Danny Ainge has on many occasions said he would have done things differently. His view has been that Red should have traded Kevin and Chief while they still had value around the league and extended the championship run with other talent. This week in the first test of Ainge's own Big Three era and loyalty it appears as if he might well be taking a very similar road as his most esteemed predecessor.

It appears that during the exact moment when Danny Ainge should have been following his own advice and trading Ray Allen when he is at his most valuable, a massive expiring contract that still has a high skill level during a recession and huge cost cutting time across the league, Danny could pull the trigger. And as the title of this thread stipulates, years from now will we look back and think what could have been? Years from now will it be team president Rajon Rondo sitting in Danny's office second guessing the wisdom of the actions Danny Ainge takes over the next 24 hours?

I don't get the move(s) that have been rumored thus far or the news from David Aldridge that Ainge is going to stand pat except for this small(no pun intended, okay maybe a little)Nate Robinson trade which is going to go a long way towards making sure Danny Ainge is married to the Big Three until 2012. Without moving the first of the most movable of the Big Three at the most opportune time to move him, Danny has relegated this team to having to ride it out trying, maybe beyond their own aging capabilities to win with this group.

I think it will be seen in the future as a huge mistake. Could trading Ray Allen have cost this team a championship this year? Sure. But they very well might be incapable of winning it all this year anyway, so who cares. Danny Ainge obviously feels otherwise. My eyes, tell me differently. This team needed a younger bunch of veins pumping young blood into this team and the opportunity for that us just about gone.

With Ray still a Celtic at 3:00PM EST tomorrow, that means he will be re-signed in the off season, back for us all to watch erode before our very eyes or he will not be back without anything to show for it. Paul Pierce will never be traded. Kevin Garnett, his gigantic contract and his bum knee has rendered him untradeable. 

Get used to it Celtic fans. What you see is probably what you get for at least the next 2 1/2 years and if a decade from now this team is waddling through the nether lands that is NBA mediocrity, we can all look back to now and the next 18 hours as the reason for it.

the next 2.5 years will be mighty hard to watch IMO. good enough to make the playoffs but too old and gimpy to actually be legit contenders. i think the window is closing no matter what danny did or didn't do. the big 3 got us a title but i believe we will watch them regress further and further from now on


KG's knee injury was worse than we were told and that single injury changed the future of the entire franchise. multiple titles went out the window that night in Utah.

[PosImpos]

Sure, not for the reasons you think.

My what could have been will have to do with KG's knee. I think there was a very high chance we repeat if KG maintained his health through last season.

Like Roy, I'm very interested in what moves you think Danny passed on. The only deal I think that we could have pulled off was a trade for Jamison.

I think you're right.  It seems like the trade opportunities just weren't there.  Even if they were, the Celtics might not have been able to make them because of the financial burden it would require.

The bottom line is KG's knee.  If his knee had stayed healthy these last couple of years, the C's could have won 3 championships in a row.  Unfortunately, it seems that wasn't in the cards.

In 10-15 years I'm sure we'll look back on this time and reminisce about what could have been - if the Big 3 had only stayed healthy for another year or two.

[celticinorlando]

KG's knee isn't close to being right. and that is the major issue with this team. without him at even 80 percent, boston stood and stands no chance to win a title. it really is painful to watch and very sad

[More Banners]

What trade did Danny turn down / not pursue that would have either improved our chances this season or extended our window?

With all of the misdirection and flat-out lies, there is no way to know what trades are really out there or what is turned down.  There just isn't.  We all know that.  We could GUESS what another team might have taken by looking at what does go down for an expiring, but these things are quirky, so a trade another team does for an expiring may not be available to us for an expiring, odd as that sounds.

Perhaps Danny 2010 is realizing that trading old players on the downswing for top talent isn't as easy as he thought as a cocky little gunner in 1988 (Danny 1988).

Or perhaps he is misquoted?  When Bird went down in the 88 season, it was clear we wouldn't win (though we squeaked into the playoffs), and perhaps a deal should've been done then?  It's not the same as now, since we've got all our guys on the court.  Would he still break up the 50+ win team in 1989?  Maybe not.

[Change]

That was long, TP for the effort.

You don't to trade Ray for the sake of trading him. If Ainge can't get good value in return, Ray is still 2nd or 3rd best player on this team. You can deny that. But Ray is right behind Pierce in points. He is still considered the best shooter in NBA history. He'll be league's all-time 3point leader soon. Ray may not be the same he was 2-3 years ago. He can still carry the load when called upon. And who knows what the future holds? This team can still miraculously win the title this season. Or they could lose in the 1st round. This could very well be the last season Big3 are together. Ride them, and see if they still have anything left.

Cheer up, We still have Rondo. Future doesn't look that bad.

[Brickowski]

In 15 years I may be dead. I may never see the Celtics win another championship.

But hey, that's ok.  I'll never buy another season ticket either. Tit for tat.

[celticinorlando]

That was long, TP for the effort.

You don't to trade Ray for the sake of trading him. If Ainge can't get good value in return, Ray is still 2nd or 3rd best player on this team. You can deny that. But Ray is right behind Pierce in points. He is still considered the best shooter in NBA history. He'll be league's all-time 3point leader soon. Ray may not be the same he was 2-3 years ago. He can still carry the load when called upon. And who knows what the future holds? This team can still miraculously win the title this season. Or they could lose in the 1st round. This could very well be the last season Big3 are together. Ride them, and see if they still have anything left.

Cheer up, We still have Rondo. Future doesn't look that bad.

ray allen's defense to me is the real issue. i hope he gets his shot back at some point. looks like we will ride the big 3 until we have to send them to the glue factory

[Fafnir]

In 15 years I may be dead. I may never see the Celtics win another championship.

But hey, that's ok.  I'll never buy another season ticket either. Tit for tat.

Yeah because ownership were such jerks bringing in two high priced veterans in a desperate attempt to win a banner.

Oh wait it worked? Why are we upset again?

[Lucky17]

I'm still hopeful that over the next 18 or so hours, Ainge will find a way to turn some of our expiring deals into a rotation player or another asset that can really help the club.

It may not be the big splash that people have been (perhaps unrealistically) expecting, but I still think something goes down.

[Fafnir]

That was long, TP for the effort.

You don't to trade Ray for the sake of trading him. If Ainge can't get good value in return, Ray is still 2nd or 3rd best player on this team. You can deny that. But Ray is right behind Pierce in points. He is still considered the best shooter in NBA history. He'll be league's all-time 3point leader soon. Ray may not be the same he was 2-3 years ago. He can still carry the load when called upon. And who knows what the future holds? This team can still miraculously win the title this season. Or they could lose in the 1st round. This could very well be the last season Big3 are together. Ride them, and see if they still have anything left.

Cheer up, We still have Rondo. Future doesn't look that bad.

ray allen's defense to me is the real issue. i hope he gets his shot back at some point. looks like we will ride the big 3 until we have to send them to the glue factory

Pierce's D has been just as bad lately.

[celticinorlando]

I'm still hopeful that over the next 12+ hours, Ainge will find a way to turn some of our expiring deals into a rotation player or another asset that can really help the club.

It may not be the big splash that people have been (perhaps unrealistically) expecting, but I still think something goes down.

sure be nice to cut the deadweight for some guys that can give ray allen less court time as well as PP and KG

and yes..PP's all around game has been slow and stuck in the mud since he came back