Seriously,what was DA thinking when he drafted JR. Watching JR run up the court alone was enough to not buy his game. He wasn't as athletic as was they said. The drama of having to transfer from Kansas,just another sign. Like I said,when the foot speed doesn't match the physique,you should pass. I will never forget thinking we were going to get Mario Chalmers.
I concur - TP. When Ainge took him, I said, who? I thought we should have drafted Bill Walker with the 30th pick that year, but now that I think about it, we really should have selected Chris Douglas-Roberts.
BTW, I'm not convinced that Ainge is a good judge of talent at the college level. Aside from Rondo, Gomes, and Delonte, he has done a far better job in drafting and/or trading for High School players than he has with college guys. Now I know that you'll cite Gerald Green as a major bust (duh), but I thought that Ainge said somewhere that he would have taken Monta Ellis. Which begs the question: if Danny didn't have the power to draft Ellis, who did? I thought he was in control of those decisions in 2005. Maybe he was hoping to take him where Gomes was selected? I mean, come on - if you look at who was available when Boston was picking from 2003 onward (when Ainge took over), it makes you want to put your head through a wall. This has been on my mind for a couple of weeks - so it's time to vent. Just for reference, I became a fan and started watching in the 2004-05 season (and haven't missed a game since) because I loved Gary Payton. Pro ball was never watched in our house, we were too busy watching people that can actually play - the Uconn women (I got bored with them after awhile because of the lack of competition); and to top it all off, my Mom was a Lakers fan and we have a great relationship, so I supported the Lakers (what was I thinking?). She and my Uncle used to go at each other all the time - he liked the Celtics in the 80s and prior while my Mom pretty much supported any team that beat Boston. She hated Bird and Co and loved the Showtime Lakers, the 76ers, the Knicks, and the Pistons to some degree, and thus passed on her view of the rivalries to me. There was a period where I actually liked the Bad Boys because of how they constantly beat MJ, but after I studied the Celtics and watched a ton of old games, I thought to myself, how could I ever support the Lakers or Pistons? When Boston didn't make the playoffs in 2006, I was casually watching the playoffs and happened to find that game between the Lakers and the Suns where Kobe hit the game winner or something and I found myself rooting for the Lakers - I know, I know, please forgive me. Looking back, the Suns were robbed by the refs, as is every opponent of the Lakers, and to top it all off, I just wanted a good game. I was actually supporting a rapist. Man was I an idiot. That was my lone moment of not being an unwavering supporter of the Boston Celtics and temporarily supporting the enemy; but believe my when I say that if a person could bleed green, I would. Wow, sorry about the tangent; back to the issue at hand - Ainge's terrible track record in the draft since his hire in regards to selecting college players.
2003 - with the 16th and 20th picks he took Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones when David West, Boris Diaw, Travis Outlaw, Carlos Delfino, Leandro Barbosa, Josh Howard, and Mo Williams were all available. Of said players, West, Howard, and Williams have become Allstars (although Williams got on the allstar team after someone couldn't play and LeBron heavily complained, right?) and Barbosa won the 6th man of the year award in 2007. I also read an article that said after watching Howard in the summer league, Ainge (and maybe Chris Wallace - surprise, surprise) said, "Wow, that kid can really play." That's not something you want to hear from the guy in charge of drafting players. Oh, and to top it all off, Danny traded for Marcus Banks (arghhh) and Perk (who turned into a somewhat decent player at best, imo), and took Brandon Hunter at 56 when Marquis Daniels was still available. I know that Doc liked 'Quis when he was still in Orlando, but I thought I read somewhere that Danny also wanted him out of college. Am I wrong here?
2004 - with the 15th, 24th, and 25th picks, he took Al Jefferson, Delonte West and Tony Allen. I have no problem with the first two (although Josh Smith and Jameer Nelson were available, but Big Al turned out to be great so I won’t complain), but I utterly despise Tony and was overjoyed when he made the decision to leave (although I will acknowledge that his defense in the postseason on Wade, LeBron, and Kobe was incredible). Furthermore, Kevin Martin was taken right after TA (followed 4 picks later by Anderson Varejao), making his boneheaded career even more frustrating and painful. In the second round, with the 40th pick, DA took Justin Reed when Trevor Ariza and Andres Nocioni (who went undrafted) were still available. Bottom line, another future Allstar (I'm assuming) in Kevin Martin was passed on.
2005 - with the 18th pick, Ainge took the immortal Gerald Green. Just one pick before Danny Granger was picked by Larry, doh! Anyway, like most fans, I foolishly fell in love with his athleticism, disregarded his lack of legitimate NBA skills, and believed what Danny and Doc said about Gerald's potential to be the next Tracy McGrady. What a stupid comparison. Why was he compared to Tracy McGrady - because he was 6'8, came out of high school, and had unreal athletic ability? Tracy McGrady is an excellent passer, can create his own shot and play multiple positions in addition to his unreal athleticism. But what really hurts is the fact that the following players were available when we made our selection: Nate Robinson, David Lee, Brandon Bass, CJ Miles, Von Wafer, Monta Ellis, Louis Williams, Ronny Turiaf, and Andray Blatche. As mentioned before, Ainge said that he would have taken Ellis that year. Well, why didn't you? With the 50th pick Ainge took Ryan Gomes, who I loved - no problem there, but at 53 he took Orien Greene when Marcin Gortat, Amir Johnson, Kelenna Azubuike (undrafted) and Jose Calderon (undrafted) were still available. I was one of those fans who got excited by every young player, believing that Marcus Banks was going to be like Isiah Thomas because he had great speed and quickness in addition to his wearing number 11 - must have been a sign
. Man was I dumb. Nevertheless, I've learned my lesson. It no longer matters to me who the players' favorite player was growing up or who he thinks he can be, etc.. But back to the 05 draft - once again, Danny missed out on at least two more allstars in Monta Ellis (I’m pretty sure) and David Lee, and maybe a third down the road in Andre Blatche.
2006 – with the 7th pick, Danny boy takes Randy Foye and, although Rudy Gay was the player taken next by the Houston Rockets, Ainge was able to acquire Theo Ratliff and his expiring contract that ultimately landed KG – so I can’t fault him on that one, although the addition of Sebastian Telfair was a horrendous decision. Regardless, he came out of the draft with Rondo and Leon Powe, so I won’t complain – despite the fact that we were one pick from Brandon Roy – argh!
2007 – this one really hurt. Not only did we miss out on Oden and Durant, but we couldn’t even get the third pick – screwed by the lottery once again. Ultimately, Danny was able to package our pick and other “chips” for Ray Allen, so this draft wasn’t a complete disaster for us – at least in the short term. With the 32nd and 35th pick, DA took Gabe Pruitt and Glen Davis (from Seattle). Davis turned out to be a pretty good player, but Pruitt – I don’t know what to say about him. With Phoenix having our 1st rounder from the Rondo deal, there weren’t a ton of options, but Marc Gasol, Josh McRoberts (who I like because of his athleticism, size, and passing ability most of all), and Ramon Sessions were still available when we made our second round picks.
2008 – with the 30th pick, the Boston Celtics select…JR Giddens, from the University of New Mexico. Who is this guy, I thought to myself. Two seasons later, I am still wondering what made Danny take this bonehead. He was already 23 in 2008, his jumper looks awful, and he never got any playing time, and apparently for good reason. I also remember Ainge saying that he would have taken George Hill, who was snatched up by one of the few teams that know how to draft in the San Antonio Spurs. Here’s my problem with this: if you felt so strongly about the kid, why didn’t you trade up to get him? I’ve already mentioned how I wanted DA to take Bill Walker at 30, but there were a number of good players still available at that time, namely Mario Chalmers, DeAndre Jordan (certainly has a ton of potential), Luc Mbah a Moute, Chris Douglas-Roberts, and Goran Dragic. With the final pick of the draft Danny took Semih Erden. I really wish that we could have gotten Roy Hibbert and or George Hill in addition to CDR and Skywalker that year. Hibbert is an excellent passer with good size who can score in the post with either hand – what a concept.
2009 – with the 58th pick, the Boston Celtics select…Lester Hudson, from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Again – who? I don’t remember who called Wesley Matthews, but whoever did certainly caused me to look into him. After looking him up, on draft night, after Ainge made the pick for Lester, I was saying to myself, “No, No, No, Danny. Wesley Matthews. For crying out loud all ready.” Due to the Garnett trade, we didn’t have a 1st round pick, which was unfortunate, because the following players all slipped: Dejuan Blair, Jonas Jerebko (okay, so maybe he didn’t slip and I was completely unaware of his existence, but he turned out to be a good player), Marcus Thornton, and Chase Budinger, in addition to the aforementioned Matthews.
2010 – with the 19th pick, the Boston Celtics select…Avery Bradley, from the University of Texas. Okay selection I guess, although I would have taken Lance Stephenson due to his ability to play the 1, 2, and 3, in addition to being a great passer and someone who can create his own shot. But what really ticked me off about this past year’s draft, in addition to not getting Paul George, was that Danny didn’t buy picks from the two teams before us (Chicago and Miami) who wanted to sell them so that they would have had more cash to use in the free agency bonanza that ensued shortly thereafter. Instead, OKC bought Miami’s pick and then traded it to the Clippers for a future 1st round pick. I wish that we could have gotten those other two picks so that we could have taken Stephenson, Bradley, and the next BPA. In the second round, with the 52nd pick, Ainge selected Luke Harangody when Willie Warren, who was obviously the BPA and a lottery talent to boot, was still on the board. I don’t care about whether he fits or not, he was unquestionably the BPA and you have to take him. Unfortunately for us, the Lakers had a good draft and took Devin Ebanks and Derrick Caracter – both of which would have been nice to have; oh, and Magnum Rolle (what a name), whose athleticism and game have looked good in the summer league (I know, it’s only the summer league) and would certainly help our team in those departments, was taken one pick ahead of ours at 51 by, guess who, OKC, who was then promptly traded to the Pacers.
All in all, I’m sorry about the length, but Danny’s mistakes are so plentiful that it takes quite some time to analyze and document them. Look, I know that hindsight is 20-20 and that no one is perfect, but after all of the mistakes he’s made concerning the draft, it certainly makes you question those in charge. Maybe we should consult a psychic about who will be the best players to come out of the draft every year (I don’t exactly believe in them, but it couldn’t hurt, right?). Either that, or maybe Boston needs to reevaluate who their scouts are and how the organization goes about assessing collegiate talent.
