http://celticshub.com/2009/11/02/revisiting-the-07-draft-would-the-cs-have-taken-odendurant/
Sounds like to me that Ainge never even bothered to really look at Oden/Durant since he knew they were going to be 1 and 2 and he would have had 6 weeks from the draft lottery to the draft to make the determination (and then only if he had 1, since he knew he was taking the other one at 2) and was instead much more focused on 3 through 7 since those picks were totally up in the air.
There also seems to have been the very real possibility that Boston would have traded the first or second pick for Garnett and would have been able to keep Jefferson in that situation, which would have been very interesting going forward (maybe they can still land Allen using West, Gomes, and a future pick or two).
I'd guess that's another sign of Doc and Danny having different visions of the 2007 draft. I don't see Danny trading a top 2 pick in that draft in order to keep Al on the roster.
Yeah, no way Ainge would've traded either Oden or Durant for Garnett. Both were too highly thought of to trade even for someone like Garnett who was 12 years older. Regardless, Garnett wouldn't have accepted the trade anyway since Ray Allen wouldn't have been joining them to form a great trio. On the other hand, maybe Seattle takes Jefferson for Ray Allen. Still, no way Ainge or Celtics ownership okays dealing two of the most hyped prospects ever.
On another note, I don't think Pierce would've asked for a trade either. I think one would've been granted if he was adamant that he was tired of rebuilding and wanted to win now but I remember reading about how Pierce was very intrigued with both guys. I mean, who wouldn't have been but he sounded pretty excited about the possibility, especially a big like Oden. He must have been heartbroken like everyone else.
If we had gotten Oden, I can't imagine how painful it would've been. That draft was supposed to rectify the misfortune of the Duncan draft. Even Popovich quipped about how he hoped Celtics fans could finally move on from Duncan if they got Oden. And then to see Oden break down and hardly play? Ugh. After Bias, Lewis, Duncan, Pitino, Gaston, etc, it would've been too much. I'm sure it's been rough on Oden but it might have been worse if he broke down in a big media market like Boston too. In that regard, he was a bit lucky as well.
Um, the quotes are from Ainge.
“What people don’t understand is that we could’ve still done all that (the trades) and, with the No. 1 pick, maybe been able to keep a player like a Delonte West or an Al Jefferson (who were sent to Seattle and Minnesota, respectively),” Ainge told The Bee over the summer.
“We hated trading them away. We had discussed the possibility of trading the No. 1 pick or the No. 2 pick also. And when you get the No. 5 pick, you just don’t have the same (leverage). If you got the No. 1 or No. 2 pick, sometimes that by itself gets you a lot.”
Garnett might have been more inclined to come to Boston if Jefferson was still here. I also think, Boston is able to keep the Minnesota pick and the conditional pick. Heck they might have been even able to keep some of Gomes, Green, and Telfair. I think 1 or 2, plus Ratliff and one of the young guys lands Garnett (Green had the most upside so he probably goes to Minnesota). Garnett probably is ok with the trade in that situation because Jefferson is still there along with Perkins.
Just imagine what might have been with Rondo, West, Pierce, Garnett, Jefferson with Perkins, Gomes, Wally, Telfair, plus whatever free agents come here. Even without making the Ray Allen trade the team is a clear title contender for years. And it still had Jefferson. Probably could have used Jefferson to land a guy like Pau Gasol. Put Gasol with KG and PP and that team wins at least 3 titles (in large part because LA doesn't have Pau).
The problem with keeping 1 or 2 was that likely meant Pierce was gone, especially if it was Oden and he got hurt. Pierce was never going to go through another rebuild. Even if he wasn't traded, he would have left in free agency as soon as possible and would have made it difficult on Boston to keep him.
Topic: Ainge - a look at GM draft performance (Read 20561 times)