Danny was in a tough spot heading into this draft. One of the least talented rosters in the league somehow fights its way to the 7th seed in a terrible conference. The difference between picking 9th or 10th and picking 16th, in a draft that everybody thought was probably 11 or 12 players deep, at most.
Tried very hard to get into the top 10, where history tells us the real difference makers are selected. Nobody was biting. Turns out its hard to make a trade to change the direction of your franchise when all you've got to trade is bench players and picks likely to end up in the middle of the first round. Really tough to trade donkeys and ponies for real thoroughbred horses, and this team desperately lacks horses.
So, failing a trade up, what did Danny do at #16? He took exactly the kind of player he knows he can scout and not end up with a dud. A defense first undersized combo guard with a questionable jumper. Fantastic. Another safe pick from Danny, a GM who is alleged to have such balls when it comes to trades, but is all about safety when it comes to the draft. Then at 28, you take an alleged shooter who was an unreliable shooter in college. Best case scenario, he's fighting for the exact same role that James Young is trying to fill.
I think the bottom line is that this was a fantastically shallow draft, and Danny Ainge was never in a position to finish tonight in a better spot than he started it. But dang. How disappointing.
