Danny. It's not the trade. It's the lying. And the lying has got to stop. Please

[Gomesfan]

These thread are getting old...!

[wiley]

The implication of the original post is that Danny really doesn't believe he's made a good trade, that he's secretly all about the future and is willing to throw away champioships for the sake of that future.... This makes no sense.

He went on the air and backed up his moves.  If you think he's lying, that means you don't think he really believes what he did makes basketball sense.  I can't picture a scenario where Danny benefits from a trade that hurts our chances at a title this year.

As others have pointed out, he needs to win as much if not more than anyone, and I'm sure he wants to win just as badly too......

[rondohondo]

Krstic played with Kidd in New Jersey after the injury and he looked exactly as he looked in OKC - actually, he looked worse.

Krstic before the injury as a very different player than the one after the injury. Much reduced athleticism and mobility. I completely disagree he's basically the same player or that it was about Kidd. He didn't rely on jumpers so much, he had a very dangerous first step for a big. A dangerous player in isolations. He was blossoming into an All-Star type of center.

He played 45 games with New Jersey after he suffered the injury and that was less than a year after the surgery, you can't judge someones recovery from that kind of sample. I agree that he lost a half a step, but that is my point.

Roy was saying  that he has faith Perk is going to be back to 100%, but why does Perk have a better chance of returning to his old form than Kristic did? Perk tore all 3 ligaments in his knee while Kristic only tore his acl.

My point was also that Perk has looked good playing with 4 all-stars, why can't kristic be just as effective( in a different way) ?  He already has shown with an elite PG that he can put up really good numbers.

[PosImpos]

This post is silly.

[harrmonica]

GM's don't owe you anything but to try and help the team shoot for a title-in the present and in the future. i think danny did that and more importantly, i think danny thinks he did that. and i don't think danny checks blogs to make sure he didn't hurt anyone's feelings.

[More Banners]

Hey everyone, let's imagine an alternate universe in which eja (the OP) is a T-Wolves fan.

What would eja have to say about Kahn?

Let's all be happy to be Celtics fans, and to have Danny running the show with Wyc's checkbook while it lasts.

[Jon]

Again, nothing Danny has said thus far is actually a lie.  I'd agree some things are potentially exaggerations and even have the potential to be lies.  But not yet.  So at this point, I think it's a lie to say he's lying.  

And again, I don't think that the OP's choice of "lies" were all that strong.  Perk did turn down the C's offer.  Nenad Krstic was (and is) a starting center.  And with JO and Semih, what's really JO's motivation for lying?  Who is he "tricking" by stating these things?  It's not like anyone has enormous expectations for JO or anyone really misses Semih Erden.  

If anyone wanted to pick out a lie, it'd be the Jeff Green is a better defender than Kendrick Perkins bit.  But at this point, it's not yet a lie.  Let's see what happens come the playoffs.  For all we know, Green does an admirable job on LeBron and Perk gets smoked by Duncan or Gasol.  

[Casperian]

Right, what you said appears to be 100% accurate.  That's not what Danny said, though.  Instead, he spun it, to imply that he already is one of the best defenders in the league.

I think he said he could be, but you´re right that that´s just Danny spinning the truth, as he always does (and maybe should).

As for the OP, most posters before me already argued over the specifics, and I have to agree with them. Danny´s not outright lying, he just offers an overly euphemistic view of things. What is he supposed to say? "Nah, Krstic is OK, but in a 1-for-1 trade, I´d rather keep Perk". That would be counter-productive. I´m convinced that Danny does everything he does in the best interest of the Boston Celtics, and thus, in my best interest, even if he´s not telling me the whole truth.

That said, if he ever lies to me about a KG injury again, I´ll make a little kitty cry. You hear me, Danny? You are responsible for the well being of a little kitty cat. I´m not joking!!!

[RockinRyA]

Wait, people actually are defending Danny as being "honest"?

Look, the guy is a GM.  He lies, and spins things, to appease his fan base and to posture around the league.  It's what he does.

"Jeff Green is a better defender than Perk"?  Come on, Danny.  No, he's just not.

"I have faith that J.O. will be healthy for the playoffs"?  Like Jermaine or hate him, but only a fool would be fully convinced that he'll be healthy.

Basically, I think eja is on to something here, and I'm sympathetic to the thread.  I'd love to ask Danny "who do you think you're fooling?"  (Of course, the answer would apparently be "A lot of people".)  However, as personally grating as I find it to be, it's also part of Danny's job.  The fan base was upset, so the Celts went about spinning the situation to paint themselves in a better light.  

It's par for the course, and other organizations do this, too (with the Red Sox being notorious for it).  As soon as a guy leaves, all of his flaws are acknowledged (and sometimes exaggerated), while the new guys are hailed as perfect fits for our team.  The only thing you can do is recognize it as spin, and evaluate things on your own.

All I have to say for Danny is, it's a good thing BYU doesn't still make him sign an honor code every year.

His opinion about the truth may be wrong but that doesn't make it lies. Oh wait, you are a seer and you know firsthand about how JO will perform in the future. 

So, if you're opinion about JO is wrong, that means you are also a lier huh?

[Tai]

Can't lie, eja, I'm not sure if this is a heavy dose of sarcasm by you or not, but I will assume for now it isn't and reply appropriately...

1. We offered an extension to Perk and he didn't take it and we were afraid we'd lose him.


Did you talk to him? How'd he look in those Thunder profile pics? Happy to be with a new team that might give him the money? How does he sound about throwing out his shoes? A guy whose heart wasn't in Boston? A guy who wanted every cent? Did he hold out for every cent in the past? Cmon Danny. Cmon.

I'm confused. Which part are we claiming Danny lied about, again? I mean, let's take throwing out his "old" shoes, for example. Are you claiming Perk pretended to be proud to do that when he really wasn't, or Danny told him to pretend to be and such?  

Well, either way, bottom line is, Danny wasn't willing to offer what Perk wanted. Perk even said so, more or less, when interviewed about rejecting the extension offer. It was actually reported that Perk was offered $7-8M (4 years, $30M), when he actually confirmed when asked that it was around the MLE level (4 years, $22M), saying that $7-8M would've been a big difference.

http://www.csnne.com/02/07/11/Perkins-rejects-Celtics-preliminary-offe/landing_celtics.html?blockID=406068&feedID=3945

At best, I'm willing to believe that it was exaggerated by someone the extension offer Perk got from the Celtics, but there's no way of knowing if that was from Danny or a misprint by a reporter.

Why am I supposed to believe Danny cared enough what fans thought that he feel the need to lie about what lengths he went to try and keep Perkins, again? He was willing to keep Perk for the right price, and Perk rejected it. This is a big deal, why?

2. We think Nenad is a starting center in this league.

In this league? Maybe. On a championship team? On our team? There's lots of starting centers in this league. Start Chris Johnson there tomorrow. Boom. Starting center. Nazr Mahommed? Kwame Brown? Darko? All starting centers I guess.

All I've gotten from your posts is that you don't like Nenad Krstic. Ok, we get it. I, personally, vaguely remember Krstic before he was traded here; I can admit that.

 Either way, I'm not sure why a seven footer who can finish around the rim and actually spread the floor with an 18-footer isn't a starter in this league. Just like Perkins does things defensively that Krstic probably couldn't dream of doing, Krstic does things offensively that Perkins (and Celtic fans) dream he could do. All I've gotten from you about Krstic is that he's not Perkins. Well, Perkins isn't Krstic, at least not offensively. Simple as that. That doesn't mean Krstic's not a starting center. Like others have said, wasn't he starting for the Thunder before he was traded here? In the playoffs last season with the Thunder? With the Nets?

3. Jermaine O'Neal will be healthy for the playoffs. Danny. Jermaine. The last time we saw this guy he could hardly walk. Boy who cried wolf at best. Either you lie about injuries or the team has medical staff issues.

For the second time, I'm not sure what you claim he's lying about. I was apparently fooled when people said they blamed JO for his injury problems this season in the first place. Didn't JO HIMSELF say in his twitter account that he'd be back? Whether he had Danny's blessing to post that or not, right now, it's supposedly on record of both of them saying the same thing. JO was diagnosed around the beginning of February that he'd be back in 6-8 weeks. That falls within mid-March to early-April. So yes, he would be back for the playoffs. I figure the better debate would be whether he would be effective, but I don't see why I'm supposed to assume he'll be available. JO DID have surgery, you know. KG probably should've too in 08-09 to get those bone spurs outta him. Oh well. But something tells me you don't have information proving Danny wrong on JO.
 

4. Tommy says Semih wants to go back to Turkey. Highly convenient. Way to keep a tight lid on that till juuuusssssttt the right time, and the time just happens to be damage control time and we don't trust you any more so you get Tommy to say it for you. Oh Danny. Danny Danny Danny.

Ok, I need you to be more specific like cats need catnip.

Was it said that Semih has been wanting to go back to Turkey for a while, or did he want to suddenly go back after being traded from one of the best teams in the NBA to one of the worst, developing Ricky Rubio syndrome? Big difference.

5. You would have traded Bird before he got old. Actually I rather believe you on this. That's the problem. I know you think it would have been great to trade him for Clyde Drexler, Sam Bowie and a bag of peanuts in 1988 and that's the problem. Hey Danny. Do me a favor ok? Try not to trade Lucky for the Suns Gorilla and a draft pick, and try not to trade Red's statue and Bill's new medal he got from Obama for 40 pieces of silver ok? If someone calls you offering a great deal for Paul Pierce involving a young stater and a Euro just hang up. Nobody will think less of you. It's ok. Just let it go.

So you're getting on Danny for saying he woulda made a bold trade then, and made a bold trade now, a calculated one at that?

I see, now. You assume Danny lied about talking to Perk about an extension, so of course you can spin your argument into Danny just shipping him off recklessly, not considering the idea that Perk would take less to stay.

I'll be considered accusatory, but I have a hard time believing you'd rationally consider this a bad trade otherwise. Perk's no guarantee to be healthy for the playoffs THIS SEASON; I was just gonna be told to have faith he'd be by you AND others, correct?.

Why would you truly hate Danny for getting what he could in a trade with Perk if you truly wouldn't think there was a reasonable chance to get Perk after he supposedly wanted more than MLE money with his now building injury history? In the end, you think if Danny had faith, Perk would stay with a discount everyone would be happy with. That's what you truly  believe. Why else would you think Danny lied when it was reported that Perk rejected MLE money?

[droponov]

Wait, people actually are defending Danny as being "honest"?

Look, the guy is a GM.  He lies, and spins things, to appease his fan base and to posture around the league.  It's what he does.

"Jeff Green is a better defender than Perk"?  Come on, Danny.  No, he's just not.

"I have faith that J.O. will be healthy for the playoffs"?  Like Jermaine or hate him, but only a fool would be fully convinced that he'll be healthy.

Basically, I think eja is on to something here, and I'm sympathetic to the thread.  I'd love to ask Danny "who do you think you're fooling?"  (Of course, the answer would apparently be "A lot of people".)  However, as personally grating as I find it to be, it's also part of Danny's job.  The fan base was upset, so the Celts went about spinning the situation to paint themselves in a better light.  

It's par for the course, and other organizations do this, too (with the Red Sox being notorious for it).  As soon as a guy leaves, all of his flaws are acknowledged (and sometimes exaggerated), while the new guys are hailed as perfect fits for our team.  The only thing you can do is recognize it as spin, and evaluate things on your own.

All I have to say for Danny is, it's a good thing BYU doesn't still make him sign an honor code every year.

His opinion about the truth may be wrong but that doesn't make it lies. Oh wait, you are a seer and you know firsthand about how JO will perform in the future. 

So, if you're opinion about JO is wrong, that means you are also a lier huh?

I really hope Ainge is lying about Green being a better defender than Perkins and not giving his honest and wrong opinion. That would be terrifying.

[Roy H.]

Wait, people actually are defending Danny as being "honest"?

Look, the guy is a GM.  He lies, and spins things, to appease his fan base and to posture around the league.  It's what he does.

"Jeff Green is a better defender than Perk"?  Come on, Danny.  No, he's just not.

"I have faith that J.O. will be healthy for the playoffs"?  Like Jermaine or hate him, but only a fool would be fully convinced that he'll be healthy.

Basically, I think eja is on to something here, and I'm sympathetic to the thread.  I'd love to ask Danny "who do you think you're fooling?"  (Of course, the answer would apparently be "A lot of people".)  However, as personally grating as I find it to be, it's also part of Danny's job.  The fan base was upset, so the Celts went about spinning the situation to paint themselves in a better light.  

It's par for the course, and other organizations do this, too (with the Red Sox being notorious for it).  As soon as a guy leaves, all of his flaws are acknowledged (and sometimes exaggerated), while the new guys are hailed as perfect fits for our team.  The only thing you can do is recognize it as spin, and evaluate things on your own.

All I have to say for Danny is, it's a good thing BYU doesn't still make him sign an honor code every year.

His opinion about the truth may be wrong but that doesn't make it lies. Oh wait, you are a seer and you know firsthand about how JO will perform in the future. 

So, if you're opinion about JO is wrong, that means you are also a lier huh?

You don't think Danny has been spinning the injury outlook of some of our players?  I think Danny both lies outright and spins things to paint franchise's moves in a positive light.  It's his job, but it's definitely not "honest".

[JHTruth]

I think it would be more honest to say "We just don't know if these statements are true or not". That's the problem with our vantage point, we don't have access to any of the same information as he does. Do we know by what criteria he thinks Jeff Green is a better defender than Perk? Perk WAS hugely foul prone and was faked out rather easily for most of his stay here. Do we have details on JO's recovery?

We aren't in a position to call these "lies" because we just don't have the same information. Does he owe us that? Not really, this isn't a freedom of information issue. The Celtics aren't obligated to give us a full accounting of what they know. It's probably prudent to be cautious about what one says as a GM in these matters..

[Carhole]

"Jeff Green is a better defender than Perk"?  Come on, Danny.  No, he's just not.

Preface: I do not think Green is a better defender than Perk as I have stated in other threads from what I have seen he gets way to high and is often taken off the dribble by 3's

If you are referring to Ainge making that statement on the EEI. That is not what he said. It amazes me how many people listen to something and only hear what they want.

On EEI he said, "Green CAN be a better defender than Perk right now" he went on to explant WHY this can be true e.g. Green has all of the physical tools to do what we need of him immediately and (according to danny) Perk's lack of the necessary tools to do as he had previously done since returning from injury.

That is a subjective, qualified, statements they are not lies. You disagree with it but it isnt a lie.

[Interceptor]

I wonder how this thread would go over if Danny Ainge was a CelticsBlog forum member.  I sort of feel insulted on his behalf by the tone of the OP.

Personally don't think there's any "there" there, so to speak.  He spins things in a positive light, as expected.  I don't think that there are any outright lies that have been highlighted, here.