In hindsight, if you could change one move of Danny's, what would it be?

[nickagneta]

There's really not much different I would do because, let's face facts, it was KG's knee injury that cost the Celtics a repeat title and maybe a three peat. Everything else was window dressing.

I do say I think his absolute worst move was signing Jermaine O'Neal. That was just an awful move.

At the time, I didn't mind it.  JO was coming off a good year (he put up something like 15 points, 7 rebounds, and efficient shooting, if I remember correctly), and has always been a pretty good defender.  I thought he was a good fit.

Instead, he basically just collected a paycheck for two seasons.

He had been a health risk and been injury prone for years and years before having a bounce back year in his contract year, the year before Danny signed him. I think the writing was clearly on the wall that JO was playing for a contract only and then  was going back to his "Oh, I'm hurt, I can't play" ways.

[CelticnLA]

Wow Roy, you just blew my mind on the Gasol pick.  I had no idea we passed on him.

Mine is simple but I think could've gone a long way... keep Tony Allen.

Yeah I think a lot of the "shoyld have drafted so and so" is pretty hard to criticize considering other teams made the same mistake and most of us have no idea what to expect from these players going into the draft and moving forward.

For me, at the time and since I cannot wrap my head around not signing TA. It was less money and less years than poseys deal. In the prime of his career. He has been a celtic his whole career and knew the system and was just creating an identity in the NBA.

And what did it eventualy boil down to? 1 extra year at 3 mil? Chump change.

And please don't give me the "TA wanted to start bit"

At the time, I think Danny's reasoning was:

1.  Tony was injured a lot;

2.  He consistently found himself in Doc's doghouse;

3.  He  was a limited player on offense, and turnover prone;

4.  He was bad for PR, with his trial, etc.;

5.  Danny  wanted to keep maximum flexibility for the summer of 2012.

In hindsight, it was a mistake, as we almost instantly missed Tony's defensive contributions and his toughness.  However, at the time, I understood Danny's thinking.

I miss TA...I wish Danny would have paid him what Memphis did and kept him in green. He has been pretty durable over the last couple of years, and even if he still can't hit the ocean if he was standing on the side of a boat, his all grit and hustle always kept me glued to the tv when he was in the game.

[thirstyboots18]

The players I wish were still with the Celtics who came to mind are Tony Allen, Delonte West and a center, (possibly Kristic?)

Although none is an star, all are solid, IMO, and each  could have helped plug a need this year, probably without breaking the bank if they were still with the club.

But...all were possibly fragile, too, I do understand why they were let go...

Just realized the question is "one" and I listed three.  Too lazy to change it...pick any one of those, 

[StartOrien]

Losing Ricky Davis is still a hard pill to swallow.

[Roy H.]

Passing on Chandler Parsons after he was sure he would be a Celtic turned out to be a mistake.  Not a monumental one, but Parsons would have looked nice here.

[StartOrien]

I think overall, it's creedance to the great job Danny's done. The decisions he misfired on hurt, but were certainly justifiable.

[AB_Celtic]

Not the biggest mistake Danny's made, but one that hasn't been mentioned, is not trying harder to keep Ray. Danny could have done something to get him more enthused about a bench role, told him he was just as important to the team's success as KG or Pierce, you name it. We sure could have used his clutch shooting at some points this season.

Again, not the biggest mistake, but I think it was a mistake nonetheless.

[Roy H.]

I think overall, it's creedance to the great job Danny's done. The decisions he misfired on hurt, but were certainly justifiable.

Except for the J.R. Giddens pick.

[LooseCannon]

Wow Roy, you just blew my mind on the Gasol pick.  I had no idea we passed on him.

He was a Euro-stash player taken 48th overall in the middle of the second round.  Lots of people passed on him.  No one wants to draft the next Fran Vazquez.

[Moranis]

Another I mentioned the other day, which again isn't really a move, but what if Ainge had not traded for Garnett and instead held on to Jefferson.  Would Boston then have been able to trade with Memphis for Pau Gasol and not have to give up Jefferson?  By the time of that trade Glen Davis would have been a fairly decent prospect as well in addition to Tony Allen.

I would have to think that some combination of Tony Allen, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, with Ratliff for dollars as well as Minnesota's 1st and a future Boston 1st (maybe even another Boston 1st) would have been enough to land Pau from Memphis?

Imagine how much different Boston would have been with Pau, Big Al, Pierce, Allen, and Rondo as the starting 5 with Posey, House, maybe PJ Brown, and whomever you kept from above?  Maybe that team doesn't win the 2008 title, but I would have to think it would have been a heavy favorite in 2009 and 2010 if not beyond.

[Boris Badenov]

There's really not much different I would do because, let's face facts, it was KG's knee injury that cost the Celtics a repeat title and maybe a three peat. Everything else was window dressing.

I do say I think his absolute worst move was signing Jermaine O'Neal. That was just an awful move.

What I would change is more of a philosophy than any one move, but it's related to the JO thing.

I think that with our veteran and possibly injury-prone core it was a bad idea to also gamble on filling out the roster with other guys who were older and/or injury-prone (JO, Shaq, Delonte, Marquis, Sheed etc.).

I think what we needed were some solid rotation and end-of-bench guys who could give you quality minutes, rather than players whose upside was greater but who were more likely to go down and not help us at all.

[Roy H.]

There's really not much different I would do because, let's face facts, it was KG's knee injury that cost the Celtics a repeat title and maybe a three peat. Everything else was window dressing.

I do say I think his absolute worst move was signing Jermaine O'Neal. That was just an awful move.

What I would change is more of a philosophy than any one move, but it's related to the JO thing.

I think that with our veteran and possibly injury-prone core it was a bad idea to also gamble on filling out the roster with other guys who were older and/or injury-prone (JO, Shaq, Delonte, Marquis, Sheed etc.).

I think what we needed were some solid rotation and end-of-bench guys who could give you quality minutes, rather than players whose upside was greater but who were more likely to go down and not help us at all.

I hear you.  At the same time, as a team looking to contend, what would you have done differently to fill the big man hole?  Danny brought in JO and Shaq, which is probably about the best he could have done in 2010:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-nbafreeagenttracker2010

Looking at what was available in our price range, it's hard to come up with a better plan, even in hindsight.

[StartOrien]

There's really not much different I would do because, let's face facts, it was KG's knee injury that cost the Celtics a repeat title and maybe a three peat. Everything else was window dressing.

I do say I think his absolute worst move was signing Jermaine O'Neal. That was just an awful move.

What I would change is more of a philosophy than any one move, but it's related to the JO thing.

I think that with our veteran and possibly injury-prone core it was a bad idea to also gamble on filling out the roster with other guys who were older and/or injury-prone (JO, Shaq, Delonte, Marquis, Sheed etc.).

I think what we needed were some solid rotation and end-of-bench guys who could give you quality minutes, rather than players whose upside was greater but who were more likely to go down and not help us at all.

I hear you.  At the same time, as a team looking to contend, what would you have done differently to fill the big man hole?  Danny brought in JO and Shaq, which is probably about the best he could have done in 2010:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-nbafreeagenttracker2010

Looking at what was available in our price range, it's hard to come up with a better plan, even in hindsight.

But what if we had gotten to Darko earlier?

EDIT: Roy, check pm's

[European NBA fan]

Wow Roy, you just blew my mind on the Gasol pick.  I had no idea we passed on him.

Mine is simple but I think could've gone a long way... keep Tony Allen.

Yeah I think a lot of the "shoyld have drafted so and so" is pretty hard to criticize considering other teams made the same mistake and most of us have no idea what to expect from these players going into the draft and moving forward.

For me, at the time and since I cannot wrap my head around not signing TA. It was less money and less years than poseys deal. In the prime of his career. He has been a celtic his whole career and knew the system and was just creating an identity in the NBA.

And what did it eventualy boil down to? 1 extra year at 3 mil? Chump change.

And please don't give me the "TA wanted to start bit"

At the time, I think Danny's reasoning was:

1.  Tony was injured a lot;

2.  He consistently found himself in Doc's doghouse;

3.  He  was a limited player on offense, and turnover prone;

4.  He was bad for PR, with his trial, etc.;

5.  Danny  wanted to keep maximum flexibility for the summer of 2012.

In hindsight, it was a mistake, as we almost instantly missed Tony's defensive contributions and his toughness.  However, at the time, I understood Danny's thinking.

I miss TA...I wish Danny would have paid him what Memphis did and kept him in green. He has been pretty durable over the last couple of years, and even if he still can't hit the ocean if he was standing on the side of a boat, his all grit and hustle always kept me glued to the tv when he was in the game.

Danny himself said not signing TA was his biggest mistake a couple of years ago. He would have offered the same as Memphis did, if he had known the offer, but Tony had already moved on. He probably wasn't fond of Doc's doghouse.

Wow Roy, you just blew my mind on the Gasol pick.  I had no idea we passed on him.

He was a Euro-stash player taken 48th overall in the middle of the second round.  Lots of people passed on him.  No one wants to draft the next Fran Vazquez.

To add: He was considered less talented and MUCH softer than Pau. That's also why the Lakers-Memphis trade seemed so onesided at that time. But how smart would DA have looked, if he had chosen Marc? 

[Boris Badenov]

There's really not much different I would do because, let's face facts, it was KG's knee injury that cost the Celtics a repeat title and maybe a three peat. Everything else was window dressing.

I do say I think his absolute worst move was signing Jermaine O'Neal. That was just an awful move.

What I would change is more of a philosophy than any one move, but it's related to the JO thing.

I think that with our veteran and possibly injury-prone core it was a bad idea to also gamble on filling out the roster with other guys who were older and/or injury-prone (JO, Shaq, Delonte, Marquis, Sheed etc.).

I think what we needed were some solid rotation and end-of-bench guys who could give you quality minutes, rather than players whose upside was greater but who were more likely to go down and not help us at all.

I hear you.  At the same time, as a team looking to contend, what would you have done differently to fill the big man hole?  Danny brought in JO and Shaq, which is probably about the best he could have done in 2010:

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ys-nbafreeagenttracker2010

Looking at what was available in our price range, it's hard to come up with a better plan, even in hindsight.

I see that Shavlik Randolph was available. Clearly, Danny's biggest mistake was failing to lock him down back then.

But seriously, I think it's a little too easy to be biased in hindsight, so picking anyone in particular is not worthwhile. But lesser and younger - and mostly smaller - players were available (Brockman, Bonner, Amir Johnson, Korver, Barnes, Dorell Wright, Trav Outlaw, etc.).

And of course if Shaq had just remained healthy we'd have nothing to complain about.

I just have a feeling that Danny was gambling a bit too much on everything going right health-wise for these guys. No way to prove it, with all the uncertainty, but that's my gut.