The moves are about as smart as it gets. As others have said, the only thing that he maybe whiffed on was the timing of the deals. He theoretically could have gotten more for Rondo had he moved him earlier.
The team lacks franchise talent and wasn't in a position to compete. The GM game is about acquiring building blocks/cornerstones or assets that can be utilized to acquire key pieces down the line. Rondo and Green were overrated players who weren't going to stay here. There's no harm in moving them for future pieces. It's a lot worse seeing guys like that leave your franchise empty handed, as happened with Ray. Ainge had actually tried hard to move Ray prior to his free agency. In-fact we had a Ray Allen trade effectively completed that somehow fell apart.
Future assets are never a bad thing. People look at the late picks and say, "What can we possibly do with all those late picks?... late picks are useless!". I've pointed it out a few times now, but there's major irony there. The same people crying about the "useless picks" fail to realize we acquired Rondo and Green with those same "useless picks".
Looking at the transaction history provides some perspective to how these "useless picks" can be utilized.
Once again, I'll explain it:
Long Live Moiso
In 2000 we drafted Jerome Moiso with the #11 pick.
We traded Moiso 2001 for Philly's 2003 1st rounder.
In 2003 we selected Dahntay Jones with that Philly 1st (#20).
On draft night we traded Dahntay Jones to Memphis for Kendrick Perkins (selected #27).
In 2011 we traded Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green.
In 2014 we traded Jeff Green for what amounts to a 1st and 2nd rounder.
Long Live Jiri
In 2003 we trade Antoine Walker for several pieces... one throw-in is Jiri Welsch.
In 2005 we traded Jiri for the Cavs 2007 1st rounder.
In 2006 we traded the Cavs 2007 1st (later used to select Rudy Fernandez) to the Suns for the player they took #21... Rajon Rondo.
In 2014 we traded Rondo for what amounts to (so far) a 1st and three 2nd rounders.
That's just two extremely relevant examples of how you can acquire talent using late picks. Good to have assets. 6+ Draft picks for players that were going to leave us empty-handed is a nice haul. Plus we have enough cap space to sign both Green and Rondo this summer. If they ever intended on staying in Boston, I don't see why we wouldn't have a shot at signing them. There's probably better ways to use our cap space, though... which was another great reason to get rid of Rondo and Green.
Topic: Is Ainge Making Smart Decisions?? (Read 4814 times)