Danny Ainge's job performance since the 2007 off season

[nickagneta]

The only way to judge whether a decision was a good one or a bad one is in hindsight. Sorry people, it's the nature of judging things. judging things before they happen is great but it's arbitrary until such a decision stands the test of time.

Regardless of whether decision looked to be the best option at the time or the best decision at the time, you can't be certain of those pre-judgments until they have been tested. Whether Danny chose first or thirtieth doesn't matter. What matters is did he make the best choice and that can only be determined in hindsight. Whether Danny signed the right guy or made the right decision about what his team needs were is can only be determined in hindsight.

It's the nature of the beast.

I think he made good decisions. I think he also made very poor decisions. Some of those poor decisions were decisions that at the time they were made I agreed with. That doesn't change the fact that they were bad decisions.

[More Banners]

Here's one thing that Danny got wrong:

He assumed that if they 1) got a player's coach in Doc, and 2) won and had a shot at the title, that FA's would be clamoring to play for the C's at a discount.

I've mentioned before that this assumption hasn't proven true, except for the occasion like Posey (and Daniels hoped to follow) where there is no great deal out there for them, so they sign for a bit less to play for a winner--but only in order to cash in the following year.

This has been the big problem that I suspect Danny missed on:  I think he expected it to be easier to pick up an impact bench player or two every year for next to nothing.  When he was able to, we won the title (with Posey).  If Sheed suddenly turns into the impact bench player we hoped he'd be when he signed, we'll have a very solid chance at winning another.

One other mistake, IMHO, was not making a stronger committment to having and keeping some young players "in development," whether those players were our own draft picks, D-Leaguers on non-guaranteed deals, or guys on minimum deals with cheap team options for future years.  I think that's changing, though, with the recent DL signings and the upcoming draft (I expect to buy or trade for another pick).

[BballTim]

Here's one thing that Danny got wrong:

He assumed that if they 1) got a player's coach in Doc, and 2) won and had a shot at the title, that FA's would be clamoring to play for the C's at a discount.

  I don't think that this is true. Danny probably didn't think that players would take a discount to come here, more that Boston would become more of a desired destination. As contenders he at least has a shot at these players. When he first came to the Celts he tried to sign quality free agents like Malone and McDyess but they had no interest in coming here. Now the more desired FAs such as Posey last year or Wallace this year will consider our offers. Danny knew he'd have a good shot at signing them if he made a competitive offer, but I think it's pretty clear that he didn't think that he could lowball them and expect them to sign with us.

[Casperian]

It's the nature of the beast.

You don´t have to jump off a cliff to knoe that it´s a bad idea.

[Birdbrain]

TP for the hard work and I suppose in hindsight you have a point about some of the signings. That's pretty much the same thing you could do every team.  I'm not a big monday morning QB type of fan.  Being over the salary cap obviously limited his options.

He bought the C's the 17th and Rondo for the future. I give him a A+++++++.

I think an interesting addendum to this would be how many fans were for some of these moves prior to them not being good moves.

Edit: I see you commented on some of my points as well.  I disagree and thinks it's very important to note what you thought at the time of the move. 

[CoachBo]

The only way to judge whether a decision was a good one or a bad one is in hindsight. Sorry people, it's the nature of judging things. judging things before they happen is great but it's arbitrary until such a decision stands the test of time.

Regardless of whether decision looked to be the best option at the time or the best decision at the time, you can't be certain of those pre-judgments until they have been tested. Whether Danny chose first or thirtieth doesn't matter. What matters is did he make the best choice and that can only be determined in hindsight. Whether Danny signed the right guy or made the right decision about what his team needs were is can only be determined in hindsight.

It's the nature of the beast.

I think he made good decisions. I think he also made very poor decisions. Some of those poor decisions were decisions that at the time they were made I agreed with. That doesn't change the fact that they were bad decisions.

Exactly. Ainge is never going to be confused with Daryl Morey or Sam Presti. He's an average GM with an average track record. Some hits. Some very glaring misses, including some decisions I agreed with at the time, like Wallace, for example.

[Birdbrain]

The only way to judge whether a decision was a good one or a bad one is in hindsight. Sorry people, it's the nature of judging things. judging things before they happen is great but it's arbitrary until such a decision stands the test of time.

Regardless of whether decision looked to be the best option at the time or the best decision at the time, you can't be certain of those pre-judgments until they have been tested. Whether Danny chose first or thirtieth doesn't matter. What matters is did he make the best choice and that can only be determined in hindsight. Whether Danny signed the right guy or made the right decision about what his team needs were is can only be determined in hindsight.

It's the nature of the beast.

I think he made good decisions. I think he also made very poor decisions. Some of those poor decisions were decisions that at the time they were made I agreed with. That doesn't change the fact that they were bad decisions.

Exactly. Ainge is never going to be confused with Daryl Morey or Sam Presti. He's an average GM with an average track record. Some hits. Some very glaring misses, including some decisions I agreed with at the time, like Wallace, for example.

Good point neither of those guys has been a GM of an NBA champion.  Average to Boston fans (not really) means excellent everywhere else.

[Roy Hobbs]

I think he made good decisions. I think he also made very poor decisions. Some of those poor decisions were decisions that at the time they were made I agreed with. That doesn't change the fact that they were bad decisions.

I disagree.  I think that sometimes, good decisions yield poor results.  I think we all need to acknowledge that no GM has a crystal ball.  If the decisions they're making at the time seem solid, then there's really not a ton of room for criticism.

I mean, in fantasy world, let's say that Danny signs-and-trades Rondo and Ray for Lebron.  Two weeks into his first season with Boston, Lebron suffers a career-ending injury, while Rondo becomes a perennial all-star.  Was that a bad decision on Danny's part?  Of course not -- at the time, it was coup.  The results are bad, of course, but it was still a spectacular decision.

[Roy Hobbs]

I think an interesting addendum to this would be how many fans were for some of these moves prior to them not being good moves.

See here:  http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/10/5/1068888/offseason-mission-accomplished

The overwhelming majority of fans gave Danny either an "A" or a "B" this off-season, and that's even before re-signing Rondo.

[Casperian]

I think an interesting addendum to this would be how many fans were for some of these moves prior to them not being good moves.

See here:  http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/10/5/1068888/offseason-mission-accomplished

The overwhelming majority of fans gave Danny either an "A" or a "B" this off-season, and that's even before re-signing Rondo.

Great evidence that the overwhelming majority isn´t always right. There were enough people against the Sheed signing, but it was impossible to have a neutral discussion on this topic. Every pessimistic opinion was dismissed with loads of youtube-videos of how great Sheed was in 2002 and "Ball don´t lie"-posts.

[Fafnir]

but it was impossible to have a neutral discussion on this topic. Every pessimistic opinion was dismissed with loads of youtube-videos of how great Sheed was in 2002 and "Ball don´t lie"-posts.

Really?

I remember debating it with several posters about the pros/cons of it all.

[Birdbrain]

I think an interesting addendum to this would be how many fans were for some of these moves prior to them not being good moves.

See here:  http://www.celticsblog.com/2009/10/5/1068888/offseason-mission-accomplished

The overwhelming majority of fans gave Danny either an "A" or a "B" this off-season, and that's even before re-signing Rondo.

Great evidence that the overwhelming majority isn´t always right. There were enough people against the Sheed signing, but it was impossible to have a neutral discussion on this topic. Every pessimistic opinion was dismissed with loads of youtube-videos of how great Sheed was in 2002 and "Ball don´t lie"-posts.

Hey I was with you with regards to Wallace.  I never liked the guy personally.  But putting aside my personal opinion with regards to him and taking KGs knee issue into account you had to at least see where DA was going with the move.  So while I disagreed with the signing I'm not privy to enough inside information to really be on either side of the issue.  Which is the crux of why I'm not the biggest fan of these types of threads.

Say we trade for KG and he gets hurt prior to the Championship in 2008 was it then a bad move?

[jdpapa3]

Exactly. Ainge is never going to be confused with Daryl Morey or Sam Presti. He's an average GM with an average track record. Some hits. Some very glaring misses, including some decisions I agreed with at the time, like Wallace, for example.

I like both of those guys, but you can probably pick them apart as well. I remember scratching my head a bit about the Jeff Green pick at the time since his natural position is the same as Durant's...and that's still an issue, just as an example.

They have both yet to cash in the chips for THE CHIP: something that Ainge did.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I evaluate decisions based on the circumstances at the time those decisions were made, I think it's a disservice to play the in hindsight game to evaluate if a GM did a good job or not. Many of the things that happen during the course of the season are beyond the GM's control.

I think Ainge has done an excellent job, including last year's offseason, even if it left a bit to be desired from. We went to 7 games, in a series that we were clearly in place to win but ran out of gas, against the team that later on went to play in the finals. All of that while our defensive anchor was out of the playoffs with an injury. All of that while our first big man off the bench went out of the playoffs with an injury. All of that with playing a tired team due to all the injuries sustained throughout the season, which was completely abnormal, and playing through the playoffs with Pierce battling some fatigue, Ray battling some injuries, Rondo battling some ankle injuries and a bit of fatigue, Tony Allen battling some ankle injuries and thumb injuries, Scal playing through concussions...

You guys have a tall order if you want to convince me that Ainge failed to build a championship level team, and that's just about as much as one can hope for from a GM, particularly when he also has to be financially responsible.

[Birdbrain]

I evaluate decisions based on the circumstances at the time those decisions were made, I think it's a disservice to play the in hindsight game to evaluate if a GM did a good job or not. Many of the things that happen during the course of the season are beyond the GM's control.

I think Ainge has done an excellent job, including last year's offseason, even if it left a bit to be desired from. We went to 7 games, in a series that we were clearly in place to win but ran out of gas, against the team that later on went to play in the finals. All of that while our defensive anchor was out of the playoffs with an injury. All of that while our first big man off the bench went out of the playoffs with an injury. All of that with playing a tired team due to all the injuries sustained throughout the season, which was completely abnormal, and playing through the playoffs with Pierce battling some fatigue, Ray battling some injuries, Rondo battling some ankle injuries and a bit of fatigue, Tony Allen battling some ankle injuries and thumb injuries, Scal playing through concussions...

You guys have a tall order if you want to convince me that Ainge failed to build a championship level team, and that's just about as much as one can hope for from a GM, particularly when he also has to be financially responsible.

Thank You for putting my feelings into words.