The Danny Ainge Draft Appreciation Thread

[kozlodoev]

The only real busts Danny has drafted lately have been Giddens and Pruitt, and Pruitt was taken late too.

Of the players that came with expectation (i.e. first-rounders with guaranteed contracts), only Giddens and Marcus Banks failed to develop into legitimate NBA rotation players.

With second-rounders, everhything you can get is gravy. Come on, Pruitt was taken in the 50s.

[fairweatherfan]

The only real busts Danny has drafted lately have been Giddens and Pruitt, and Pruitt was taken late too.

Of the players that came with expectation (i.e. first-rounders with guaranteed contracts), only Giddens and Marcus Banks failed to develop into legitimate NBA rotation players.

With second-rounders, everhything you can get is gravy. Come on, Pruitt was taken in the 50s.

#32, actually (remember that was the 24-58 season's draft) but I agree - Danny's success rate with 2nd rounders in particular is tremendous.

[mctyson]

I co-sign this thread.

[kozlodoev]

The only real busts Danny has drafted lately have been Giddens and Pruitt, and Pruitt was taken late too.

Of the players that came with expectation (i.e. first-rounders with guaranteed contracts), only Giddens and Marcus Banks failed to develop into legitimate NBA rotation players.

With second-rounders, everhything you can get is gravy. Come on, Pruitt was taken in the 50s.

#32, actually (remember that was the 24-58 season's draft) but I agree - Danny's success rate with 2nd rounders in particular is tremendous.

Hm. I guess poor recollection on my behalf. In any case, I typically have zero expectation for second-rounders, so that only makes him a little more of a bust in my eyes.

Gotta hand it to Ainge -- his brass has a tremendous eye for talent that's solid enough to contribute, yet not flashy enough to go in the lottery. Almost everyone he's picked outside of the lottery ended up being at least a capable player (Rondo, Tony Allen, Delonte West, Perkins, Bradley, to name the ones I remember off the top of my head).

[Brendan]

I'd say he's a good drafter, but not great. Goes for need a bit too much for me.

The only objective way to evaluate a drafter is by what his picks did, versus what the best player on the board did.

The rest is subjective and adds some color.

So in 2003:

- Entered w/16, 20, & 56 got Banks, Perkins, & Hunter
- Could have gotten David West, Barbosa, & Hunter

So in 2004:

- Entered w/ 15, 24, 25, & 40 got Jefferson, West, Allen, Reed
- Could have gotten Jefferson (or Josh Smith if you prefer), Varejo, Martin, Ariza

etc.

But that's an absolute measurement, you then need to compare to other GMs.

Where Danny has been better than most is getting extra picks or exchanging picks to give himself more chances. I consider this a distinct, but related skill set. Basically DA gets himself in position to see a lot of pitches, meaning on net he produces a good amount of talent in the draft.

[RAcker]

Has anyone mentioned Delonte and Big Al?  Those were pretty good I think.

[Brendan]

The only real busts Danny has drafted lately have been Giddens and Pruitt, and Pruitt was taken late too.

Of the players that came with expectation (i.e. first-rounders with guaranteed contracts), only Giddens and Marcus Banks failed to develop into legitimate NBA rotation players.

With second-rounders, everhything you can get is gravy. Come on, Pruitt was taken in the 50s.

#32, actually (remember that was the 24-58 season's draft) but I agree - Danny's success rate with 2nd rounders in particular is tremendous.

Pruitt was just the kind of positional reach I'm talking about. He drafted Pruitt based on need. Had Pruitt come in and played well (the word from the C's was he was Delonte West type player), they'd have had a guard rotation of Rondo, R. Allen, Pruitt. With shooting in Eddie House and defense in Tony Allen.

What DA should have done is taken the best player available, many of us on this board thought that player was Marc Gasol.

[the_Bird]

The only real busts Danny has drafted lately have been Giddens and Pruitt, and Pruitt was taken late too.

Of the players that came with expectation (i.e. first-rounders with guaranteed contracts), only Giddens and Marcus Banks failed to develop into legitimate NBA rotation players.

With second-rounders, everhything you can get is gravy. Come on, Pruitt was taken in the 50s.

#32, actually (remember that was the 24-58 season's draft) but I agree - Danny's success rate with 2nd rounders in particular is tremendous.

It's a little revisionist, but if you pretend that Danny drafted Billy Walker at #30 and Giddens in the second round...  that's basically how those two guys' careers have played out, right?  Walker's a fridge guy who's had his moments, kind of what you'd expect from a late #1.  Still in the League.  Giddens didn't stick, fully expected that a good percentage of mid-2nd rounders won't make it.  

So, I give Danny a bit of a pass on the Giddens pick because in the same draft, he got an OK player in Walker.  

Banks, though...  kid had all the skills, just couldn't put it together.  Bad draft pick, but that's nothing compared to the contract that the Suns signed him to.  I mean, Banks at least showed *enough* in his first few seasons for Phoenix to think he was worth what, wasn't it a 5/$25M contract?  Didn't they also end up selling us the draft pick after that, the one we used to grab Rondo (they didn't need it - they had their backup PG!)

[clover]

Danny has done ok,  I'm not going to bad mouth him .  Its a lot pressure and alot of work.  Danny like  is one of the top 10 GM in the league IMO. Combine that with Doc as one of the top 5 coachs , its a pretty good combo.

Celtics ARE due ....Let me say....Danny is getting wiser doing his job just like anybody...

Future looks good.

I'd put them both in the top 5.

I'll do you one better. Name more than two coaches and two GM's better than Doc and Danny.

As far as organizations, I'd say SA, LAL, Miami, and OKC could give Danny's a run for its money.  Not that far behind might be Indiana and Memphis.

Doc's kind of a different case in that his whole adds up to more than his parts.  That is, his people skills and credibility in the league probably go a little beyond his maximization of talent and strategy.  But in sum, I'd agree, he's probably in the top 3.

[wdleehi]

Ainge has done a good job drafting considering he has not had a lot of top 5 or top 10 slots. 

[celtsfan84]

Danny has done ok,  I'm not going to bad mouth him .  Its a lot pressure and alot of work.  Danny like  is one of the top 10 GM in the league IMO. Combine that with Doc as one of the top 5 coachs , its a pretty good combo.

Celtics ARE due ....Let me say....Danny is getting wiser doing his job just like anybody...

Future looks good.

I'd put them both in the top 5.

I'll do you one better. Name more than two coaches and two GM's better than Doc and Danny.

As far as organizations, I'd say SA, LAL, Miami, and OKC could give Danny's a run for its money.  Not that far behind might be Indiana and Memphis.

Doc's kind of a different case in that his whole adds up to more than his parts.  That is, his people skills and credibility in the league probably go a little beyond his maximization of talent and strategy.  But in sum, I'd agree, he's probably in the top 3.

Indiana is a really great catch.  They spend much less money than all of the top contenders and never have a high draft pick.  They've just hit on practically every pick.

Hibbert, Granger, Paul George were all massive hits for where they were drafted.  Hansbrough is the only miss that comes to mind, and ironically, I think the highest drafted.

Utah has done a nice job quickly rebuilding their team as well.

[ScoobyDoo]

I agree with the OP's praise for Danny. He's generally draft very well considering his position each year.

He missed on Banks, Giddens and possibly Gerald Green - although he looks like he's coming around a bit now too. He might have missed on JJJ and he could have gotten David Lee in one of the drafts I think.

But overall very good.

When you look at the current crop of young players we have, if:

1. Rondo continues as he is - which he will...

2. Bradley's run last season until injured is no fluke - which I don't think it is.

3. JJJ and Moore can turn into decent role players - perhpas JJJ can become a high energy rebounding, shot blocking floor running big and Moore can become a steady back up combo guard  

 Now it gets interesting -

4. Jeff Green can become an 18 and 7 guy at SF

5. Sully can become a 20/10 guy at PF

6. Melo can become a floor running, defensive anchor center along the lines of Perkins just with more athleticism...

If this young core develops along these lines - Danny will look phenomenal.

That still wouldn't be a team that can truly compete for a title - but - it would be a team that you could add a couple max guys into and definitely compete for a titles...

And I think that's the best you hope for from your drafting when you're typically picking at 18 and above.

He's done a good job.  

[fairweatherfan]

I'd say he's a good drafter, but not great. Goes for need a bit too much for me.

The only objective way to evaluate a drafter is by what his picks did, versus what the best player on the board did.

The rest is subjective and adds some color.

See I'd argue you'd need a measure of average performance available at the pick, and then each GM's average deviation from that number.  BPA seems like a tough standard because almost every year dozens of teams pass on players who turn out to be good.  But that'd be even more complicated than your way. 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Fabulous Fab Melo looked good today dribbling down the floor. He can run the break with Rondo and finish.

[Global Celtic]

Danny got a steal at 51. Man, Kris Joseph CAN PLAY.