Chad Ford: Ainge loved Giannis Antetokoumnpo at draft time

[Dog_Lover106]

Ford:

"The Celtics love Jabari (as do most teams) and we've had him as the No. 1 pick for them. But Embiid fits more of a need and has a bigger upside. Ainge has drafted on upside in the past but last year I know he loved Giannis Antetokoumnpo but didn't pull the trigger on him and instead took the much safer Kelly Olynyk. So maybe Ainge isn't quite the gambler we make him out to be."
Ouch.

Ainge said this himself before the draft on WEEI and Austin Ainge and I believe even Danny scouted there. I recall Danny saying he was raw but the most talented player in the draft. Thought that this was old news.

But no one ever believes anything Ainge says before the draft about players he might draft.

Sadly, I believe anything the GM's say.

Still remember Larry Bird saying that in his opinion,  Paul Pierce was the best player in college basketball around 1996-97. Pitino said he thought Raef Lafrentz was. I hate Pitino, but I guess he delivered Pierce after all.

Was surprised to hear Larry say recently, during the Bill Simmons interview, that he thought Red wanted Brad Daugherty and not Len Bias. First that I had heard of that, now nearly 30 years later.   

[Dog_Lover106]

Ford:

"The Celtics love Jabari (as do most teams) and we've had him as the No. 1 pick for them. But Embiid fits more of a need and has a bigger upside. Ainge has drafted on upside in the past but last year I know he loved Giannis Antetokoumnpo but didn't pull the trigger on him and instead took the much safer Kelly Olynyk. So maybe Ainge isn't quite the gambler we make him out to be."
Ouch.

Ainge said this himself before the draft on WEEI and Austin Ainge and I believe even Danny scouted there. I recall Danny saying he was raw but the most talented player in the draft. Thought that this was old news.

When the trade to move up happened, I was sure it was Antetokoumnpo, but in all my wisdom was screaming "please Shabazz Muhammed". Did not see Olynyk coming.

Really hate when people spew out stats on Giannis. I wanted Shabazz, so I am clearly no genius, but it is so  easy to see the incredible talent this KID has. We certainly could of done worse, but not really an Olynyk fan for the long term. Giannis is a keeper and not much older than Wiggins.

Jury is still out.  You guys can play the Lee J. Cobb role all you want.  I'll play Henry Fonda's role and wait for all the facts and information to come in before reaching the ultimate verdict.

Not sure if Giannis or Olynyk have even heard of Henry Fonda and I myself had to google Lee J. Cobb?

But I think however you are telling that me you disagree and prefer Olynyk at this point? You may be right, as I am the guy that wanted Shabazz Muhammed after all.

Giannis is only 3 months older than Andrew Wiggins. Both are raw, but imagine Antetokoumnpo playing now for Kansas or a Duke, instead of adjusting to NBA life? If this were the case, I think we would be going "wow, who is this guy" if Giannis was a freshman playing in the college game instead.

I highly recommend Twelve Angry Men.  It's a classic.  As to Kelly vs. Giannis, I still think Danny made the right choice.  I know he's older, and obviously much less athletic, but I think that once he starts to figure it out, his game will translate to being a very good pro. 

Admittedly, Giannis has a lot of "upside," but he still has a long way to go to prove that he will have the overall skills to be a great NBA player.

Fair enough and time will tell. Was just kidding you, as I am unfortunate old enough to remember both. Even saw Henry Fondo live in The Grapes of Wrath play.

[Tr1boy]

Imo reason DA with olynyk

1) need size due to loss of kg
2) we already have jeff green/wallace- no spot for Giannis
3) ko stats were off the charts. Mystery surrounding Giannis
4) 2014 draft = weak in pf/c prospects. But strong in SF

Giannis has been ok. But u cant say much better than ko. Defensive upside def higher

[ScoobyDoo]

Giannis looks like he could eventually be very special - time will tell. If Giannis turns out to be a KG or a perennial Pippen level all star in 3-4 years time and also a guy who has that "go to guy" factor then I think we can say Ainge "missed".

That being said - Olynyk strikes me the type of player that never wows anyone but yet fills up the stat sheet and just helps you win games in a lot of different ways.

If you put a couple alpha dog scorers on the floor with someone like Oklynyk he'll shred you with his spacing, passing and ability to put the ball in the whole off double teams.

I'd like to give Olynyk another 12 months, have him hit the weights extremely hard this off season and see what he does next season.

I think numbers like 15, 7 and 5 are not that much of a stretch for him in year two. I'd be pretty happy with that.

Especially if we get our alpha dog scorers either through the draft or via free agency this year or next.     

   

[ScoobyDoo]

4) 2014 draft = weak in pf/c prospects. But strong in SF

TP

Very, very good point and I believe this could very well be part of it.

Also, the skill set that Olynyk has at seven feet tall is very rare. He has some work to do on his body, but so do most rookies. Once he does that work, you could see a much more productive player than we currently may anticipate.

[csfansince60s]

Ford:

"The Celtics love Jabari (as do most teams) and we've had him as the No. 1 pick for them. But Embiid fits more of a need and has a bigger upside. Ainge has drafted on upside in the past but last year I know he loved Giannis Antetokoumnpo but didn't pull the trigger on him and instead took the much safer Kelly Olynyk. So maybe Ainge isn't quite the gambler we make him out to be."
Ouch.

Ainge said this himself before the draft on WEEI and Austin Ainge and I believe even Danny scouted there. I recall Danny saying he was raw but the most talented player in the draft. Thought that this was old news.

But no one ever believes anything Ainge says before the draft about players he might draft.

Sadly, I believe anything the GM's say.

Still remember Larry Bird saying that in his opinion,  Paul Pierce was the best player in college basketball around 1996-97. Pitino said he thought Raef Lafrentz was. I hate Pitino, but I guess he delivered Pierce after all.

Was surprised to hear Larry say recently, during the Bill Simmons interview, that he thought Red wanted Brad Daugherty and not Len Bias. First that I had heard of that, now nearly 30 years later.    

Agree with the first two paragraphs, but not the Bias thing.

Len Bias worked as a counselor at Auerbach's summer hoop camps in, I believe D.C..

This from an interesting read on the tragedy that was Lenny Bias:

"Lenny had fallen in love with the idea of being a Celtic," Boston coach K.C. Jones would say later. The champions were no less enamored of Bias. Red Auerbach, at whose camp Bias had worked the previous summer, advised him to stay in school and not enter the NBA draft early; Larry Bird so looked forward to playing with him that he promised to show up at rookie camp if Bias were chosen.

http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1064980/index.htm

[Fan from VT]

Don't care much for this kind of thing. Every GM likes multiple players in a draft. You only get to pick one. Every GM likes a player they pass on who ends up being good. You only get credit for the ones you have the guts to take.

[LooseCannon]

Well, here's an old story from 1986 in the New York Times:

For several weeks, Auerbach had been saying that if the Celtics got the first choice, they would select Brad Daughtery, the 6-11 3/4 North Carolina center, who is projected as a forward. The next choice, the Celtics' president mentioned yesterday, would likely be either William Bedford, the 7-foot Memphis State center, or Chris Washburn, the 6-11 North Carolina State center.

I think it fits with Red's known biases that he would prefer the talented 7-footer.  Even if he loved Bias, I think it would have been a difficult choice for him to pass up Daugherty if the Celtics had the first pick.

[Tr1boy]

4) 2014 draft = weak in pf/c prospects. But strong in SF

TP

Very, very good point and I believe this could very well be part of it.

Also, the skill set that Olynyk has at seven feet tall is very rare. He has some work to do on his body, but so do most rookies. Once he does that work, you could see a much more productive player than we currently may anticipate.

Yup. There are long term things to consider also. 13th pick is not set in stone as your long term starter. Unless u luck out like the pacers did with george. Im sure they had granger pegged as their future sf

[jr_3421]

I hate how we're all looking at this as a Giannis vs Olynyk thing. We should be looking at the entire draft compared to what other teams got, I'm very happy with Olynyk. Yes Giannis might end up bring the better player but Ainge came away with an actual NBA player which sadly a lot of teams didn't in this draft.

[obnoxiousmime]

Ford:

"The Celtics love Jabari (as do most teams) and we've had him as the No. 1 pick for them. But Embiid fits more of a need and has a bigger upside. Ainge has drafted on upside in the past but last year I know he loved Giannis Antetokoumnpo but didn't pull the trigger on him and instead took the much safer Kelly Olynyk. So maybe Ainge isn't quite the gambler we make him out to be."
Ouch.

Ainge said this himself before the draft on WEEI and Austin Ainge and I believe even Danny scouted there. I recall Danny saying he was raw but the most talented player in the draft. Thought that this was old news.

When the trade to move up happened, I was sure it was Antetokoumnpo, but in all my wisdom was screaming "please Shabazz Muhammed". Did not see Olynyk coming.

Really hate when people spew out stats on Giannis. I wanted Shabazz, so I am clearly no genius, but it is so  easy to see the incredible talent this KID has. We certainly could of done worse, but not really an Olynyk fan for the long term. Giannis is a keeper and not much older than Wiggins.

That he mentioned him on EEI before the draft suggests to me he had no intention of taking him. Why would you talk up a guy publicly that you are hoping will be available at your pick?

[csfansince60s]

Well, here's an old story from 1986 in the New York Times:

For several weeks, Auerbach had been saying that if the Celtics got the first choice, they would select Brad Daughtery, the 6-11 3/4 North Carolina center, who is projected as a forward. The next choice, the Celtics' president mentioned yesterday, would likely be either William Bedford, the 7-foot Memphis State center, or Chris Washburn, the 6-11 North Carolina State center.

I think it fits with Red's known biases that he would prefer the talented 7-footer.  Even if he loved Bias, I think it would have been a difficult choice for him to pass up Daugherty if the Celtics had the first pick.

From the same article but preceding your quote:

''When it got down to the final two, Red was laughing, he knew he had pulled another coup by trading for Seattle's choice,'' Pat Williams, the 76ers' general manager, was saying now. ''And when it was over, he leaned over in his very gracious manner and told me, 'If you don't take Brad Daugherty, we do.' Now I've got to figure out what that means. Even then Red was playing mind games with me.''

My interpretation of this, knowing the sly guy that Red was, was that Red WAS playing mind games and wanted Bias all along, especially when he was talking up Bedford and Washburn.

Red knew Bias intimately from those camps. He was his guy from the get-go.

[SHAQATTACK]

I hate how we're all looking at this as a Giannis vs Olynyk thing. We should be looking at the entire draft compared to what other teams got, I'm very happy with Olynyk. Yes Giannis might end up bring the better player but Ainge came away with an actual NBA player which sadly a lot of teams didn't in this draft.

Agree...it's time for kiddie posters wipe their noses and just  to move on and get past that draft .....boring .     Time for the crying and moaning to stop .......worry about the next draft .......landing a good player

We did ok .... Hindsight  is 20 20 ......time to move on.

[csfansince60s]

Ford:

"The Celtics love Jabari (as do most teams) and we've had him as the No. 1 pick for them. But Embiid fits more of a need and has a bigger upside. Ainge has drafted on upside in the past but last year I know he loved Giannis Antetokoumnpo but didn't pull the trigger on him and instead took the much safer Kelly Olynyk. So maybe Ainge isn't quite the gambler we make him out to be."
Ouch.

Ainge said this himself before the draft on WEEI and Austin Ainge and I believe even Danny scouted there. I recall Danny saying he was raw but the most talented player in the draft. Thought that this was old news.

When the trade to move up happened, I was sure it was Antetokoumnpo, but in all my wisdom was screaming "please Shabazz Muhammed". Did not see Olynyk coming.

Really hate when people spew out stats on Giannis. I wanted Shabazz, so I am clearly no genius, but it is so  easy to see the incredible talent this KID has. We certainly could of done worse, but not really an Olynyk fan for the long term. Giannis is a keeper and not much older than Wiggins.

That he mentioned him on EEI before the draft suggests to me he had no intention of taking him. Why would you talk up a guy publicly that you are hoping will be available at your pick?

TP...exactly.

[Snakehead]

Ouch.

Why ouch?  Olynyk looks really good so far.

I like the Greek Freak but there's no telling how good he ends up being... could easily be an athlete that never really learns to play.

Olynyk is too skilled to be down on him.  I think it's crazy given some of the skill he has shown so far.