Poll: Should Danny Ainge be on the hotseat

[Real World]

Absolutely not.

People who think he should be fired don't understand the NBA.  It is by far the most difficult league to rebuild in.  Because of the cap, difficulty matching salaries in trades, the lottery, and the luck in getting "lucky" in winning the lottery when a franchise altering talent is there, the NBA is the hardest league to rebuild in.   

Think about the C's tanking in years past with the best odds at the #1 pick, and ending up with what 3 & 6 the Duncan year, and #5 in the Durant Oden draft?  That's brutal.  Look at Cleveland with 3 #1 picks in a couple of years, and had they not signed Lebron they are likely still a lottery team.  So much rides on forces you simply cannot control.  Further add the difficulties in creating, or maintaining cap space, and then enticing a FA to come to your cold weather city over the likes of LA, Dallas, and South Beach.   In the NBA you generally win with high end, elite players.    It's hard to find those guys at the tops of the draft some years, never mind at 16 and 28.  Danny is doing a terrific job to be honest. He's basically made moves to acquire as many scratch tickets as possible.  To amass nearly a dozen 1st round picks over a 5 year period is truly unheard of in this league.  The part that he can't control is where those picks end up being, and what value they will have to other teams.  Case in point Charlotte yesterday.  If he offered three 1sts to move from 16 to #9, he did more than I would have probably done.  The problem is, Charlotte wanted Kaminsky more. 

The one thing Danny can do, or can control more so than anything else, is tanking.  He can't make the Celtics lose, but he can put together a team that wins fewer games.  For example, keeping a veteran like Bass around this year, or trading for Jerbeko and Datome, then Thomas too, probably netted the C's the handful of wins that propelled them into the 8th seed, as opposed to missing the playoffs and picking around 9 or 10.  At the time it might not seem like a big deal, but come draft day, when luck (or things you can't control) become the reality, it ends up costing you a Justise Winslow or Myles Turner.   Maybe those players bust, and Rozier is the real deal, but how much better would C's fans feel today if we had Justise Winslow right now?

Overall, I think Danny understands the dynamics of the league as well as any GM around.  He has a good eye for talent, and has quickly amassed a sock full of scratch tickets he hopes to get lucky with.  There is no magic bullet in the NBA unfortunately.  You really need a lot of good fortune.  Danny has at least raised the odds for us with his moves to date. So far, we just haven't gotten very lucky.

[sofutomygaha]

If Ainge were to be fired, the guy to succeed him would be seriously set. The pile of draft picks and team-friendly contracts Ainge leaves behind will make his successor look like a genius in a few years.

So how many teams are going to,trade lottery draft talent ......for those mediocre bench level draft picks .

None .

All of them together might be worth ONE top three draft Center .....

Otherwise ..."the gig is up ........we know now what GMs think of DA stash of picks .....

Not much .......unless your a contender needing a role player .....

We need Elite CORE talent to build around .....not fifteen bench role player picks

New manager would have an obvious stay of execution through a tank season working towards a low lottery pick. After that... look, Chris Paul was traded for ONE unprotected first and a pack of pretty average players. Carmelo was acquired for ONE unprotected pick and three decent young players on par with what we are working with now. Shaq went to Miami for ONE unprotected pick and three starting-but-not-all-star level players. When the opportunity presents itself, those Nets picks will still be the currency for a huge acquisition.

[SHAQATTACK]

If Ainge were to be fired, the guy to succeed him would be seriously set. The pile of draft picks and team-friendly contracts Ainge leaves behind will make his successor look like a genius in a few years.

So how many teams are going to,trade lottery draft talent ......for those mediocre bench level draft picks .

None .

All of them together might be worth ONE top three draft Center .....

Otherwise ..."the gig is up ........we know now what GMs think of DA stash of picks .....

Not much .......unless your a contender needing a role player .....

We need Elite CORE talent to build around .....not fifteen bench role player picks

New manager would have an obvious stay of execution through a tank season working towards a low lottery pick. After that... look, Chris Paul was traded for ONE unprotected first and a pack of pretty average players. Carmelo was acquired for ONE unprotected pick and three decent young players on par with what we are working with now. Shaq went to Miami for ONE unprotected pick and three starting-but-not-all-star level players. When the opportunity presents itself, those Nets picks will still be the currency for a huge acquisition.

I know all this .......I was also  " WAS " thinking along these same lines .    Trouble is all the teams in the NBA have achieve a better level of parity .  Look at the final records .

Thus .......this old way of thinking ......with the examples you gave ......are NOT VERY LIKEY
 TO HAPPEN IN TODAYS NBA .

The level of parity ....has caused the tightness of talent across the board to increase.  Since you can't buy your way in ......draft picks in the 1-5 range are about the only way to RESET the table for most teams eMPTY of elite talent .   Even LA and NY sold off there role players for pennies on the dollar , just get them off the team .  Dip into the lottery ...as many times possible to develop a core.

Doing like NY and LA ...dumping your role players ......starting over ....keep maybe the best play .....is the only FAST way to restock with quality elite talent.

In the OLD days 10 -20 years ago ......YES ...an extra center like Nerlins could be had for a couple firsts or a couple players and a first .

Today ........teams are collecting top elite picks .......and doling them out to get other players .

My guess .....it would take ALL of Celtics Nets picks to get Noel . .......

[wayupnorth]

Yes, he should be.

Since we made the finals in 2010, we have gotten progressively worse (except for our miracle 2012 playoff run and that was the will of the players, nothing that Ainge did.)

He has amassed a bunch of draft picks which NOBODY wants, given out bad contracts to mediocre players like Bass, Green, Bradley and seems to have no clear direction for this team.

I mean seriously, I don't know what the plan is.

Are we trying to compete, tank, neither, both?

A portion of the public has gotten suckered into Ainge's spin. All these "assets" which the Celtics claim they have are nothing more then a series of either decent or mediocre players and worthless draft picks which couldn't even net us the number 9 pick last night from Charlotte.

Ainge keeps signing and trading for guards and small forwards but continuously ignores our need for a center.

I think its time for Ainge to step down.

Trader Danny??

More like Clueless Danny.

Do you really think you are smarter than Danny?

Some of you people are just ridiculous.

[Forza Juventus]

He should absolutely be on the hot seat. The hot seat does not mean fired, it just means looked at more closely. This an important offseason. We just shouldn't necessarily give him the benefit of the doubt on everything. That's all. I'm not saying he should fired so relax, I just think we should question things if we disagree.

[Moranis]

Given Ainge's championship pedigree, I'm giving him at least through the trade deadline, but the team needs some real direction.  And I'm not sure I want Ainge controlling another draft.  He certainly had some very good picks early on, but he has missed a lot of late.

Why not? He had some good draft picks lately.

Since the Rondo draft, he has really only had three reasonable selections Bradley, KO, and Sullinger and none of them are big time future core players (and he traded up for KO passing on Giannis and others).  Smart is pretty much undecided at this point and Young couldn't even get out of his suit for much of the season.  Melo, JJJ, and Giddens were atrocious picks now and at the time they were selected. 

His first few drafts Ainge was quite good, but he has gotten much worse drafting lately.

[Big333223]

Anyone saying Danny is on the hot seat now is incredibly short sighted. If he uses some of these assets (the same ones that weren't good enough on draft night) as fodder in a sign and trade to land a legit free agent, everyone complaining about Ainge now will forget how they felt.

Even more important, if Brooklyn winds up one of the 5 worst teams in the league next year, all of a sudden Ainge is back to being a genius. You can't win them all (Celtics didn't win last night) but I don't think Ainge did anything but add more potential assets.

[saltlover]

He should absolutely be on the hot seat. The hot seat does not mean fired, it just means looked at more closely. This an important offseason. We just shouldn't necessarily give him the benefit of the doubt on everything. That's all. I'm not saying he should fired so relax, I just think we should question things if we disagree.

This is an important offseason, but next year was always the offseason he'd been targeting since the tear down, because that's when we get the first of the great Brooklyn picks, and when Walkace's contract is gone. The team improved, and the rest of the East cratered, a little faster than expected.

[Rondo9]

Given Ainge's championship pedigree, I'm giving him at least through the trade deadline, but the team needs some real direction.  And I'm not sure I want Ainge controlling another draft.  He certainly had some very good picks early on, but he has missed a lot of late.

Why not? He had some good draft picks lately.

Since the Rondo draft, he has really only had three reasonable selections Bradley, KO, and Sullinger and none of them are big time future core players (and he traded up for KO passing on Giannis and others).  Smart is pretty much undecided at this point and Young couldn't even get out of his suit for much of the season.  Melo, JJJ, and Giddens were atrocious picks now and at the time they were selected. 

His first few drafts Ainge was quite good, but he has gotten much worse drafting lately.

Until last year Anige drafted mid to late teens. What he got is very good (especially Sullinger.) and if you're going to criticize Anige for the Olynyk pick then you should criticize the 13 teams that passed on Giannis.

[Forza Juventus]

He should absolutely be on the hot seat. The hot seat does not mean fired, it just means looked at more closely. This an important offseason. We just shouldn't necessarily give him the benefit of the doubt on everything. That's all. I'm not saying he should fired so relax, I just think we should question things if we disagree.

This is an important offseason, but next year was always the offseason he'd been targeting since the tear down, because that's when we get the first of the great Brooklyn picks, and when Walkace's contract is gone. The team improved, and the rest of the East cratered, a little faster than expected.

I think this one is very important because not everyone else has cap space and next year is important for the draft because we have lots of picks and hopefully the Brooklyn one ends up being great

[dreamgreen]

He should absolutely be on the hot seat. The hot seat does not mean fired, it just means looked at more closely. This an important offseason. We just shouldn't necessarily give him the benefit of the doubt on everything. That's all. I'm not saying he should fired so relax, I just think we should question things if we disagree.

This is an important offseason, but next year was always the offseason he'd been targeting since the tear down, because that's when we get the first of the great Brooklyn picks, and when Walkace's contract is gone. The team improved, and the rest of the East cratered, a little faster than expected.

I think this one is very important because not everyone else has cap space and next year is important for the draft because we have lots of picks and hopefully the Brooklyn one ends up being great

You hit it. Being under scrutiny doesn't mean fired and you are 100% right next year other than draft picks we will be in the same boat as everyone else with a ton of cap space fighting for the same free agents. If Danny doesn't make a big play this year IMO you can forget about next year.

[Moranis]

Given Ainge's championship pedigree, I'm giving him at least through the trade deadline, but the team needs some real direction.  And I'm not sure I want Ainge controlling another draft.  He certainly had some very good picks early on, but he has missed a lot of late.

Why not? He had some good draft picks lately.

Since the Rondo draft, he has really only had three reasonable selections Bradley, KO, and Sullinger and none of them are big time future core players (and he traded up for KO passing on Giannis and others).  Smart is pretty much undecided at this point and Young couldn't even get out of his suit for much of the season.  Melo, JJJ, and Giddens were atrocious picks now and at the time they were selected. 

His first few drafts Ainge was quite good, but he has gotten much worse drafting lately.

Until last year Anige drafted mid to late teens. What he got is very good (especially Sullinger.) and if you're going to criticize Anige for the Olynyk pick then you should criticize the 13 teams that passed on Giannis.

except Giannis wouldn't have gone #1, but he would have gone ahead of KO. 

[walker834]

I cant believe  there are actually that many people who think he should.  Crazyness.

[PhoSita]

He's got at least a few more years worth of rope to figure this thing out.

[BornReady]

I think people are overreacting to the draft

Ange is not the best drafter or free agent recruiter
But he does have a reputation for getting the better half of deals

So far ainge has made masterful moves to land us several draft picks as well as best using the cap space and trade exceptions
Ainge should be able to land a great talent with at least one of the picks we got