Jordan/Giddens

[vwoodruff]

I am posting this separate because it keeps coming up and by now will be buried in the comments in the article on the main page...

To Ainge's credit, he tried to draft DeAndre Jordan with the Giddens pick. He had made a promise to Giddens and when Jordan slipped, he tried to negotiate with Giddens' agent. Rather than burn that bridge, he took Giddens.

You can say that Ainge should have broken his deal with Giddens, but that is far different than "drafting Giddens over Jordan." Simmons should know that.

[Roy H.]

I'd never heard this.  Do you have a link?  I know that happened with Oriene Greene over Amir Johnson, but hadn't heard the same about Giddens / Jordan.

I guess I'm a little skeptical, because I'd always heard that George Hill was the guy who was our first choice in that draft, and that Danny was surprised that San Antonio chose him.

If Danny *did* make a promise to Giddens, I don't think that justifies / absolves him at all.  Giddens was a mediocre prospect, projected by most observers to be picked in the late second round.  There's a legitimate shot that he would have been there at #60.

I think there's a little revisionism out there that Jordan was the clear top choice; I know at the time, it seemed mixed among Celtics fans regarding Jordan, Chalmers, and CDR.  However, if Danny closed the door on a shot at any of them due to a ridiculous promise, shame on him.

[Eja117]

I don't understand why you would make a promise to one specific prospect.  Look at the Gerald Green year. There was no problem picking a guy that slipped that year. 

I hope Danny learned his lesson. No promises.

[Roy H.]

I hope Danny learned his lesson. No promises.

If this story is true, clearly he didn't.   

Making a promise can make some sense on occasion, because usually in return for a promise a prospect quits working out for other teams, etc.  However, I don't think it would make a lot of sense to make a promise to Giddens.

[HajonHondo]

[cman88]

Hindsight is 20/20 there's alot of teams who wish they drafted jordan...there's alao a lot of teams who wished they drafted rondo

[CelticG1]

I just can't really fault gms for the most part in drafts cause it always seems like such a crapshoot.

For the most part at the time of the draft nobody is devasted over something like this because they have no idea how its going to turn out. Its too easy to look back in hindsight and say how much a guy missed when moat people aren't saying he is missing at the time

[RyNye]

I don't think it's fair to say Giddens was a "mediocre prospect." He was originally projected to be a Top 20 pick, for crying out loud! He slipped his sophomore year, yes, because people questioned his devotion to the team; however, coming to the Celtics he would be playing with Leon Powe and Kendrick Perkins, who he was friends with (and had played with at the 2003 McDonald's All-American Game), so there was good reason to think he might click in Boston.

It didn't work out, yes, but hindsight is 20/20. Seriously, Jordan was not a consensus pick at the time (heck, if you look back at a bunch of articles from the time, most commentators don't even mention his name as a Boston prospect). Everyone in the whole [dang]ed league missed out on him, that's why he was drafted in the 2nd round. Get over it.

[minijericho29]

Hindsight is 20/20 there's alot of teams who wish they drafted jordan...there's alao a lot of teams who wished they drafted rondo

EXACTLY!  TP!

Simmons is one of the biggest clowns on the planet.  He hasn't been funny or interesting since 2003.

He blames Ainge for passing on DeAndre Jordan? Jordan went 35th!!  That means that EVERY team passed on him and a handful even passed on him twice.  Simmons needs to relax and stop being such a bum-jockey.

[csfansince60s]

Hindsight is 20/20 there's alot of teams who wish they drafted jordan...there's alao a lot of teams who wished they drafted rondo

Agree.

This happens in EVERY draft. What about the year Pierce slipped to us. Tractor Traylor and Olokawandi were selected before Pierce.

There are no guarantees in basketball like there are no guarantees in life.

This woulda coulda shoulda stuff is getting lame.

[Greenbean]

No team consistently drafts well..save for the Spurs.

Actually, we are due for a break in the draft. The last one we had was with Rondo...

[mgent]

I can't believe people are still surprised that DA gambled on Giddens at 30 after seeing him gamble on Bradley at 19.  Neither should come within 10 feet of the ball on offense, but his defense was about as close as you can get to AB's coming out of college (not to mention his rebounding was on a completely different level).

Fair to say Danny knew Tony would want 3 or more years as soon as he managed to put together a healthy(ish) season?

[Greenbean]

I can't believe people are still surprised that DA gambled on Giddens at 30 after seeing him gamble on Bradley at 19.  Neither should come within 10 feet of the ball on offense, but his defense was about as close as you can get to AB's coming out of college (not to mention his rebounding was on a completely different level).

Fair to say Danny knew Tony would want 3 or more years as soon as he managed to put together a healthy(ish) season?

Giddens was not a defensive prospect although he had the tools to become a good defender.

Tony Allen and AB had stellar defensive reputations in college.

[minijericho29]

I can't believe people are still surprised that DA gambled on Giddens at 30 after seeing him gamble on Bradley at 19.  Neither should come within 10 feet of the ball on offense, but his defense was about as close as you can get to AB's coming out of college (not to mention his rebounding was on a completely different level).

Fair to say Danny knew Tony would want 3 or more years as soon as he managed to put together a healthy(ish) season?

Giddens was not a defensive prospect although he had the tools to become a good defender.

Tony Allen and AB had stellar defensive reputations in college.

He was not know for defense in college. Giddens was a great athlete with long arms and a great vertical so Ainge believed he'd flourish on a team with a defense-first attitude.

[Eja117]

When you make promises you gotta add in the whole "but if this happens I can't ignore that"

Don't give ironclad promises. Just bronze. Like 75% promises, with the consolation prize about guaranteed contracts yadda yadda/camp invite