Danny Ainge on the pursuit of Kevin Durant

[BudweiserCeltic]

Danny Ainge reflects on Kevin Durant chase that came up just short for Celtics


“You know, I thought about that before and I’ve thought about that after, and I really don’t think so -- shy of a couple of moves that I couldn’t do,” Ainge told the Herald in a lengthy conversation this morning. “But in deals that we could have done that we refused to do, I don’t think that would have mattered for this. I think that KD really likes our players.”

In other words, Ainge would have had to part with one or more core players that were part of the reason Durant was attracted to the Celtics in the first place.

Ainge then paused and delivered the fundamental truth that doomed the Celtics’ pursuit.

“Under any circumstances,” he said, “we weren’t going to be able to produce Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.”

The Celts did get Al Horford to agree to a free agent deal, a move the now-former Atlanta center delivered via Twitter after Ainge, Brad Stevens, ownership, a group of players and Tom Brady had met with Durant in the Hamptons earlier on Saturday.

But Durant may have been ahead of the C’s on that news.

“I got the impression that they knew something before we did,” said Ainge. “I know that they had some conversation. They were very familiar with what Horford was choosing between. It seemed to me in the presentation like Al and KD had been discussing their plans together.”

That was at least part of the reason Ainge allowed his hopes of attracting Durant to rise. But it was an emotional maze that he traveled in the process. He wondered if his hopes were realistic, and, if so, HOW realistic.

“You know, in a situation like that, you never really know,” Ainge said. “I didn’t really feel like we had a great chance, but I thought we had SOME chance. And then after we met with them, I felt like we had a real chance.

“I felt there for about 48 hours that we had a legitimate chance. It seemed like a really good fit. It seemed like a really good option for him, and it just wasn’t meant to be. He had other good options, too, but I did allow myself to get really excited for that 48-hour period, and it just didn’t happen.

“I felt like the meeting and presentation couldn’t have gone any better. I think we all felt that. I think it went as well as it could have, and we got a really good sense that it was going to be a really hard decision for him, but that we were a strong consideration.”

------

It was then about basketball.

“We felt like that was the most important part of the whole presentation -- who he’d play with and how he’d be utilized,” Ainge said. “He had some good questions about that and about his role - how he would play, how we would use him. I think we did a great job of explaining and making a great presentation, and I think it was tempting for him. I think he is very, very excited about Boston and the history, the Celtics, all of that. I think he loved what Brad had to say. I think he was impressed with Brad’s preparation, and we had a really good feeling about it.”

But Durant’s feelings led him elsewhere. Despite several reports that he was choosing between Golden State and the incumbent, Oklahoma City, some were still caught a bit off guard when he walked into the Warriors’ furnished home rather than carve his own niche.

“You know, I’m not surprised,” said Ainge. “I think everybody in our basketball world knows that Golden State is a very tempting place to play right now. So surprised? No. We just hoped that he would want to be with us, but Golden State is a very good basketball team and it will be very interesting.”

Ainge believes things will be very interesting with his team, too.

“I feel like we’re in good position,” he said. “I feel like we still have all of our pieces. We’re excited about Jaylen [Brown, the top draft pick]. We’re excited about what’s going on for us in free agency [Horford]. And we’re continuing to develop guys that I think aren’t even in their prime of their career yet that are continuing to get better.

“And we still have a lot of opportunities. You know, we didn’t probably have as many transactions as we wanted. We had offers for the third pick in the draft and some of our young players in this process, and we just didn’t want to do it. We just thought it was too much. We like those things too much, so we’re going to move forward, and we’re excited about the direction that we’re headed.”

At issue in the near term is whether the Celtics will be able to make another move this summer that will significantly upgrade a roster that remains shy of the NBA’s elite.

“That’s always a hard question, because you never know,” said Ainge. “You’re dealing with other teams. When you do major moves, they almost always happen out of nowhere. I mean, I couldn’t have told you at this time nine years ago that we were going to get KG [Kevin Garnett], but at the end of July we did.


There's plenty more, a good interesting read. Follow the link.

[LGC88]

Sad...

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

TP to the OP. Thanks so much for posting this; Ainge's thoughts on the matter are something I've been very curious to learn about.

It seems like it really boiled down to GS just being a better team than BOS, coupled with an apparent desire by KD to not be "the man" and not shoulder so much pressure. I'm disappointed we didn't get him, but I'm pleased that, as far as I can see, Ainge & Co. did everything humanly possible to get him.

[BudweiserCeltic]

It was hard to read, seeing how close we might have been... seeing how Ainge felt at different stages during the process on our possibilities.

But whatever, we have to move on. Still excited by our situation, though the changing landscape can be a bit more challenging at the very top.

[Chris22]

So what? Durant is kind of a loser anyway.
When came to the clutch, he and Westbrook choked.

[mqtcelticsfan]

Yeah, it's pretty difficult to fault Ainge for how this worked out. There's just no way to compete with the fact that a team with Steph, Klay and Draymond had the cap space to sign Durant. Ainge put the Celtics in a great position to get a player of Durant's stature, but at the end of the day it didn't work out.

[The One]

Here's the Globe's version with some more juicy details.

https://twitter.com/Dan_Shaughnessy/status/751083183710539776

[BudweiserCeltic]

Here's the Globe's version with some more juicy details.

https://twitter.com/Dan_Shaughnessy/status/751083183710539776

Here's direct link:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/celtics/2016/07/07/the-inside-story-celtics-meeting-with-kevin-durant/5VP57EiEA5FHnxc81yU5eP/story.html

[Celtic_Pride777]

poor Danny 

[Snakehead]

Sounds like a good effort.  Given what he ultimately chose (which I legit saw as zero chance of happening for a player of his caliber), not surprised he didn't choose Boston.

[WolfofCausewayStreet]

Durant doesn't have the mentality of a winner and he is somewhat of a choker. DA did his best, but apparently winning hollow rings is more important to the guy.

Im not satisfied with our roster. We still either need a Jimmy Butler or a Khris Middleton.

[Celtic]

Man the frustrating thing I keep coming back to is that if the C's had pulled of a deal for Butler only losing Bradley and assets, the Celtics would actually be better than the Warriors are going to be. They'd have more balanced talent, depth and be in the East with a excellent coach.

I was surprised and happy when we heard the Celtics were getting a meeting, we honestly deserved one over the Heat and Clippers, who I believe were given courtesy meetings. That means that the Celtics were realistically a top four destination for the top free agent on the market and a top three player in the NBA.

We just need one of these things to work out right.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Durant doesn't have the mentality of a winner and he is somewhat of a choker. DA did his best, but apparently winning hollow rings is more important to the guy.

Im not satisfied with our roster. We still either need a Jimmy Butler or a Khris Middleton.

Durant































Jimmy Butler









Khris Middleton

[meangreenmachine]

Man the frustrating thing I keep coming back to is that if the C's had pulled of a deal for Butler only losing Bradley and assets, the Celtics would actually be better than the Warriors are going to be. They'd have more balanced talent, depth and be in the East with a excellent coach.

Come on, man. Adding Horford and Butler to our team last year, minus Bradley, would not have made us a 73-win team. Butler plays for the Bulls, but he does not wear 23.

[bdm860]

Remember the first time we missed out on Durant?  We were all disappointed but the C's won the championship that next season!  That's what's about to happen here.  You just have to visualize it.