Cliff Notes of Ainge on The Sports Hub (2/21/14 at 2PM)

[LarBrd33]

- Does not believe any transcendent players like a Durant or James in this draft.

- Believes this draft is highly overrated.

I hear he thinks Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker are poor man's versions of Chris Johnson, Vitor Faverani and Vander Blue.

[RJ87]

  There's also that contingent that would like to move Rondo no matter what or at what cost just to get him off the team.

The logic coming from that contingent blows my mind. From what I gather, they hold the belief that Rondo is overrated and can't be a major part of a contender, while his presence on the roster currently will turn too many losses into wins. It's a train of thought that after taking in makes me sad that I read it.

I wish someone who wants to trade Rondo for 25 or 50 cents would chime in and confirm that you are out there.

Thinking that Rondo is overrated by some on this board is far different than saying trade Rondo for nothing.  Also,  there is a big difference between saying that you don't think Rondo can be the best player on a title team and saying "can't be a major part of a contender".

The last part, Trade Rondo or we will win too many games is the whole tank thing and really has nothing to do with Rondo.  Some believe we should have a fire sale and be like Phili.  You can agree or disagree with that but it really has nothing to do with Rondo specifically.  It applies equally to Green, Bass, and others.

I don't want to appear to nit pick but it does bug me to see these sorts of blanket statements that just don't seem to be fair in my opinion.  You can believe it is smart to trade Rondo with out it being you want to trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar.

I remember specifically seeing a trade along the lines of Rondo + Wallace to NYK for Amar'e/THJ/Shumpert + 2018 1st round pick. Another one that I remember was Danny Granger's expiring + George Hill + Indy's first. I see a fair share of those lead by some form of "I like Rondo, but he can't be your best player..." etc. I think that's what the above guys are referring to.

With that said, there's still quite a few people who actually post trade ideas that are well thought out and make sense. But I'd say both sides are equally represented on the boards for better or worse.

[gpap]

- Does not believe any transcendent players like a Durant or James in this draft.

- Believes this draft is highly overrated.

I hear he thinks Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker are poor man's versions of Chris Johnson, Vitor Faverani and Vander Blue.

You're my boy, blue!!

[More Banners]

It sounds like even minor type stuff like moving Bass would have actually ended up costing us. At this moment, mid-level veterans who are signed more than one year are a liability in this league to teams who are not contending or trying to lose.

Right - teams that aren't contending or getting close aren't going to take on salary for more than 1 year without compensation in the case of role players, or guys like Bass and maybe Green, who are above the MLE.

We were lucky to be able to find the perfect situation for Courtney Lee, or we'd still have him around, too.

[LarBrd33]

- Does not believe any transcendent players like a Durant or James in this draft.

- Believes this draft is highly overrated.

I hear he thinks Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker are poor man's versions of Chris Johnson, Vitor Faverani and Vander Blue.

You're my boy, blue!!

I hear he wouldn't take Dante Exum and a future 1st for Phil Pressey.  He thinks this draft is totally garbage.  He would reluctantly agree to take on two Top 5 picks for Jeff Green, but he wouldn't be happy about it.

[CoachBo]

I hear he thinks Jabari Parker is a poor man's Charles Bradley.

[Jailan34]

I'm amazed people still believe anything DA says when he speaks publicly. I guess it's easier to do when he confirms your bias' about the draft.

[Nerf DPOY]

FWIW, I also agree with the implications that Ainge is full of crap regarding this draft. To say it's overrated and doesn't contain a Lebron or Durant can be true while also being completely misleading.

Say we were to do a mock draft combining this year and where '07 looked at the time, I think it would look something like

1 Oden
2 Durant
3 Embiid
4 Wiggins
5 Parker
6 Exum
7 Horford or Randle

Or to compare it to '03, maybe not a Lebron, but 4 guys in the Melo/Wade strata. That's pretty promising.

Do some overrate the draft? Probably, but that depends on how one rates it.

[clover]

...I didn't really understand the whole "trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar" talk that people were preaching.

Who exactly is preaching that?  Trade Rondo for 0.25/1.00?

Is McLemore, Thomas, and 2 firsts for example 25 cents (which was one example trade that was discussed quite a bit)?  So I guess a fair trade would be Cousins, Mclemore, Thomas and 4 future first round picks?  No wait, that would only get us to 50 cents then.

Well considering the fact that trade literally cannot happen with SAC's pick situation, I consider what the real offer to be .25 on the dollar.

Cousins, Thomas and McLemore would be .25 on the dollar?

[Jailan34]

...I didn't really understand the whole "trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar" talk that people were preaching.

Who exactly is preaching that?  Trade Rondo for 0.25/1.00?

Is McLemore, Thomas, and 2 firsts for example 25 cents (which was one example trade that was discussed quite a bit)?  So I guess a fair trade would be Cousins, Mclemore, Thomas and 4 future first round picks?  No wait, that would only get us to 50 cents then.

Well considering the fact that trade literally cannot happen with SAC's pick situation, I consider what the real offer to be .25 on the dollar.

Cousins, Thomas and McLemore would be .25 on the dollar?

Incredibly ridiculous opinion, Cousins is a far superior player to RR. More valuable too.

[clover]

Reading between the lines, because Danny didn't quite say this explicitly, I heard that he thinks if KO has the internal fortitude and commitment to toughen up his body and his play and to become the player that he's capable of being, he could become one of the stars they need to win. But he needs a guy like Humphries to set a great example and show him how to do that, because KO still hasn't really picked it up well enough so far. And, Danny isn't yet convinced that he's got the will to, so he'll be interested through the remainder of the season to see what KO shows him in terms of commitment.

[fairweatherfan]

...I didn't really understand the whole "trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar" talk that people were preaching.

Who exactly is preaching that?  Trade Rondo for 0.25/1.00?

Is McLemore, Thomas, and 2 firsts for example 25 cents (which was one example trade that was discussed quite a bit)?  So I guess a fair trade would be Cousins, Mclemore, Thomas and 4 future first round picks?  No wait, that would only get us to 50 cents then.

Well considering the fact that trade literally cannot happen with SAC's pick situation, I consider what the real offer to be .25 on the dollar.

Cousins, Thomas and McLemore would be .25 on the dollar?

Incredibly ridiculous opinion, Cousins is a far superior player to RR. More valuable too.

The first one's debatable.  The second one - if Cousins is more valuable, he must've had some of the worst rosters in league history around him to hide it so well.

[pokeKingCurtis]

...I didn't really understand the whole "trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar" talk that people were preaching.

Who exactly is preaching that?  Trade Rondo for 0.25/1.00?

Is McLemore, Thomas, and 2 firsts for example 25 cents (which was one example trade that was discussed quite a bit)?  So I guess a fair trade would be Cousins, Mclemore, Thomas and 4 future first round picks?  No wait, that would only get us to 50 cents then.

Some have suggested to use Rondo to dump Wallace to tank harder.

Some were warming up to the HOU trade. Multiple late firsts and Asik, and maybe Parsons, for Rondo.

The Kings trade was tempting to many. Of course, those who didn't want to do it were delusional Rondo homers. 

[clover]

...I didn't really understand the whole "trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar" talk that people were preaching.

Who exactly is preaching that?  Trade Rondo for 0.25/1.00?

Is McLemore, Thomas, and 2 firsts for example 25 cents (which was one example trade that was discussed quite a bit)?  So I guess a fair trade would be Cousins, Mclemore, Thomas and 4 future first round picks?  No wait, that would only get us to 50 cents then.

Well considering the fact that trade literally cannot happen with SAC's pick situation, I consider what the real offer to be .25 on the dollar.

Cousins, Thomas and McLemore would be .25 on the dollar?

Incredibly ridiculous opinion, Cousins is a far superior player to RR. More valuable too.

The first one's debatable.  The second one - if Cousins is more valuable, he must've had some of the worst rosters in league history around him to hide it so well.

Yeah, Cousins hasn't yet demonstrated that he's far superior to Rondo. But he is only 23yo, he's a big ol' traditional center, and this year his per 36 is 21 and 12 with a 102 defensive rating.

[Jailan34]

...I didn't really understand the whole "trade Rondo for 25 cents on the dollar" talk that people were preaching.

Who exactly is preaching that?  Trade Rondo for 0.25/1.00?

Is McLemore, Thomas, and 2 firsts for example 25 cents (which was one example trade that was discussed quite a bit)?  So I guess a fair trade would be Cousins, Mclemore, Thomas and 4 future first round picks?  No wait, that would only get us to 50 cents then.

Well considering the fact that trade literally cannot happen with SAC's pick situation, I consider what the real offer to be .25 on the dollar.

Cousins, Thomas and McLemore would be .25 on the dollar?

Incredibly ridiculous opinion, Cousins is a far superior player to RR. More valuable too.

The first one's debatable.  The second one - if Cousins is more valuable, he must've had some of the worst rosters in league history around him to hide it so well.

Yeah, Cousins hasn't yet demonstrated that he's far superior to Rondo. But he is only 23yo, he's a big ol' traditional center, and this year his per 36 is 21 and 12 with a 102 defensive rating.

I am a Cousins homer somewhat, but even if I wasn't I don't think its an outlandish opinion that Cousins right now is a much better player than RR is right now. When comparing players on a good team to a bad team I try not to use stats too much because I think any real NBA fan can use the eye test and tell who is a better player. Especially when a player on a bad team has inflated stats because they are on such a terrible team.

But when I look at Cousins today, and how hes played this season, I just think its better than I've ever seen RR play over the course of an entire season.