Tatum says he was Ainge's pick all along

[Jvalin]

The Sixers trade was a calculated gamble that didn't pay off in hindsight.

More like a plan which was doomed to fail. The Kings were a total mess. How on earth were they expecting to attract a marquee free agent? They ended up giving away one unprotected first + 2 pick swap options in order to sign Rondo (on what ended up being a 1-year rental), Belinelli and Costa Koufos!!!!

The Magic didn't want to trade for him, and reportedly wouldn't even accept a Fournier/Vuc. Lakers wouldn't trade Ingram and couldn't move their pick, they didn't have anything. Nor was it promised that the Pelicans offer would continue to be there, as they were in the mix for Okafor.

Again, my point is that the Kings never truly tested the market for Boogie. Other teams around the league had every incentive to lowball the Kings. Only way for Vlade to find out what Boogie could actually fetch in a potential deal, was to wait till the deadline.

I'm glad you think you know more than NBA GMs

Never said anything like that. The way I see it, Vlade has already made 2 disastrous trades in the space of 2 years (the Boogie trade and the Carl Landry-Jason Thompson salary dump). I think it's fair to say that he is a bad GM. At the end of the day, I'm just expressing my opinion. Obviously, I may well be wrong.

D'Allessandro was a terrible GM, so yeah. Petrie was at the end of his road too, hence why he wasn't kept. So why bring up moves under their tenure?

Vlade has been at the helm for a couple of years. My point is that the Kings have been managed by dunces for way longer than that.



Anyway, in all honesty, I couldn't care less about the Kings. The Boogie trade was just an example. All I care about is the Tatum trade. The way I see it, Danny jumped the gun by trading the #1 pick a week before the draft whereas he should have tested the market until the last possible moment.

[ThePaintedArea]

When Vlade traded Boogie at the all-star weekend, people were all over him cause he decided not to wait till the trade deadline.

Different situation, I think - they traded him to get him out of their locker room, so taking action immediately may have been a priority.  Then, too, it may have occurred to them that trading him sooner meant fewer wins, and therefore a better chance at a top pick.

They traded him 4 days prior to the deadline. The NBA had no games scheduled for those 4 days.

My second point is refuted, I think.

I take it that you concede my first one; but - to be honest - this whole subject is less interesting to me than actual basketball. I got hooked by the discussion because of my point of view about DeMarcus Cousins throwing his career away. In the big picture, I guess I don't really care much about that either.

[kozlodoev]

So Ainge allegedly told Tatum he was their pick all along... in retrospect, what did people expect he'd tell him, regardless of what the real situation was?! I'm confused by this thread.

[Vermont Green]

The debate will rage on as each of Tatum, Fultz, and whoever else we get develop over their careers.  But right now, based on what we know (which admittedly is not much), we have Tatum who had a better summer league than Fultz plus a future first round draft pick.  We are way ahead in this trade at about 3% of the way through.  That can change of course but I think history will look favorably on this trade (plus the $$ savings helped to get Hayward).

I am really excited about that pick.  Best case is top 5 next draft, worst case is probably still top 10 the draft after.  Add that pick to Smart, Brown, Tatum, Zizic, BKN 2018 and that is an impressive stable of young players to accumulate while winning with one of the most surprising star players in the game (IT).

I don't understand why anyone would not be excited about this and still complain about things like not drafting Greek Freak 5 years ago.

[chiken Green]

This whole thing about Ainge making a mistake with Trading down is Crazy to me..  Ainge got his guy.. IF there was no trade available he would have chosen Tatum at 1..

Cant believe that people are complaining about getting an extra Asset and still getting the #1 guy on their board..

Ainge never liked Fultz as a Celtic..  Some of us fans bit into the Media hype. We were told that Fultz was a transcendent Talent and we believed it despite seeing no proof of it in High School, In college or in summer league.. We were just told this and we beleived it..

But reguardless of what We believed, Ainge believed something different and he proved it by drafting Tatum. So far it seems to be the right choice.. (not because we were told it but because we saw it.   We saw him in Duke, in the tourney and in Summer league)

 And I am Not saying the kid Fultz isnt good, he is.. But why do people have such a hard time imagining that Tatum could actually be better.. So far he has been better at every level - why stop now?

[moiso]

This whole thing about Ainge making a mistake with Trading down is Crazy to me..  Ainge got his guy.. IF there was no trade available he would have chosen Tatum at 1..

Cant believe that people are complaining about getting an extra Asset and still getting the #1 guy on their board..

Ainge never liked Fultz as a Celtic..  Some of us fans bit into the Media hype. We were told that Fultz was a transcendent Talent and we believed it despite seeing no proof of it in High School, In college or in summer league.. We were just told this and we beleived it..

But reguardless of what We believed, Ainge believed something different and he proved it by drafting Tatum. So far it seems to be the right choice.. (not because we were told it but because we saw it.   We saw him in Duke, in the tourney and in Summer league)

 And I am Not saying the kid Fultz isnt good, he is.. But why do people have such a hard time imagining that Tatum could actually be better.. So far he has been better at every level - why stop now?

Most people aren't saying that Ainge made a mistake.  You must be imagining that.  I see several people saying nobody knows who the top 3 picks would have been if there was no trade.

[Moranis]

This whole thing about Ainge making a mistake with Trading down is Crazy to me..  Ainge got his guy.. IF there was no trade available he would have chosen Tatum at 1..

Cant believe that people are complaining about getting an extra Asset and still getting the #1 guy on their board..

Ainge never liked Fultz as a Celtic..  Some of us fans bit into the Media hype. We were told that Fultz was a transcendent Talent and we believed it despite seeing no proof of it in High School, In college or in summer league.. We were just told this and we beleived it..

But reguardless of what We believed, Ainge believed something different and he proved it by drafting Tatum. So far it seems to be the right choice.. (not because we were told it but because we saw it.   We saw him in Duke, in the tourney and in Summer league)

 And I am Not saying the kid Fultz isnt good, he is.. But why do people have such a hard time imagining that Tatum could actually be better.. So far he has been better at every level - why stop now?

I may be misremembering, but I didn't think the Celtics brought anyone else in until after the trade was done (or nearly done).  I find it hard to believe they would have drafted someone they didn't have visit.

[Jvalin]

When Vlade traded Boogie at the all-star weekend, people were all over him cause he decided not to wait till the trade deadline.

Different situation, I think - they traded him to get him out of their locker room, so taking action immediately may have been a priority.  Then, too, it may have occurred to them that trading him sooner meant fewer wins, and therefore a better chance at a top pick.

They traded him 4 days prior to the deadline. The NBA had no games scheduled for those 4 days.

My second point is refuted, I think.

I take it that you concede my first one; but - to be honest - this whole subject is less interesting to me than actual basketball. I got hooked by the discussion because of my point of view about DeMarcus Cousins throwing his career away. In the big picture, I guess I don't really care much about that either.

What was your first point? That ''they traded him to get him out of their locker room, so taking action immediately may have been a priority''? Do you really believe that 4 extra days would have made any difference?? Not to mention, Cousins wasn't even with the team at the time. He was in New Orleans for the all-star weekend.

[FreddieJ]

The Sixers trade was a calculated gamble that didn't pay off in hindsight.

More like a plan which was doomed to fail. The Kings were a total mess. How on earth were they expecting to attract a marquee free agent? They ended up giving away one unprotected first + 2 pick swap options in order to sign Rondo (on what ended up being a 1-year rental), Belinelli and Costa Koufos!!!!

The Magic didn't want to trade for him, and reportedly wouldn't even accept a Fournier/Vuc. Lakers wouldn't trade Ingram and couldn't move their pick, they didn't have anything. Nor was it promised that the Pelicans offer would continue to be there, as they were in the mix for Okafor.

Again, my point is that the Kings never truly tested the market for Boogie. Other teams around the league had every incentive to lowball the Kings. Only way for Vlade to find out what Boogie could actually fetch in a potential deal, was to wait till the deadline.

I'm glad you think you know more than NBA GMs

Never said anything like that. The way I see it, Vlade has already made 2 disastrous trades in the space of 2 years (the Boogie trade and the Carl Landry-Jason Thompson salary dump). I think it's fair to say that he is a bad GM. At the end of the day, I'm just expressing my opinion. Obviously, I may well be wrong.

D'Allessandro was a terrible GM, so yeah. Petrie was at the end of his road too, hence why he wasn't kept. So why bring up moves under their tenure?

Vlade has been at the helm for a couple of years. My point is that the Kings have been managed by dunces for way longer than that.



Anyway, in all honesty, I couldn't care less about the Kings. The Boogie trade was just an example. All I care about is the Tatum trade. The way I see it, Danny jumped the gun by trading the #1 pick a week before the draft whereas he should have tested the market until the last possible moment.

First, Cousins/Gay was a duo the team wanted to try to build around and formed a statistically strong starting unit. Rondo is hindsight, could've had a Kidd resurrection, Belinelli was a good player before Sacramento who fetched a first, Koufos still is solid. It was expected the team was going to be competitive and the swaps not matter. Total hindsight.

You have no idea if the Kings exhausted the market. They knew the leagues interest in Cousins by having him as a player. You don't know who else was interested and it's not known if they waited until the deadline if their deals would've been worse

[ThePaintedArea]

When Vlade traded Boogie at the all-star weekend, people were all over him cause he decided not to wait till the trade deadline.

Different situation, I think - they traded him to get him out of their locker room, so taking action immediately may have been a priority.  Then, too, it may have occurred to them that trading him sooner meant fewer wins, and therefore a better chance at a top pick.

They traded him 4 days prior to the deadline. The NBA had no games scheduled for those 4 days.

My second point is refuted, I think.

I take it that you concede my first one; but - to be honest - this whole subject is less interesting to me than actual basketball. I got hooked by the discussion because of my point of view about DeMarcus Cousins throwing his career away. In the big picture, I guess I don't really care much about that either.

Do you really believe that 4 extra days would have made any difference??

Certainly not. Why would I believe that people I don't know would behave as I would? Once I make a decision, I take action. Surely that is rational and practical - if I'm a GM or a PoBO, taking action with four days before the deadline gives me the possibility of more actions.

Did you think I was claiming to know their minds? I was speculating.  I wasn't even disagreeing with you. Why would I believe that I know a fraction of the actual circumstances, let alone know enough to have a judgment about why they did what they did?

Why would I believe that I know what conversations Sac had had with other teams? Other teams were on a timeline, too, we can safely assume. What if New Orleans said, "take it or leave it"? We've heard that Ranadive loves Buddy Hield. Maybe 29 GM's said we don't want DeMarcus at any price, don't waste your time, and wished Vlade a lovely NoCal morning.

Who knows? Maybe Sac and NO wanted to give their players a few extra days to get housing and take care of business so that they could get into their new environments and be ready to put their full attention on basketball when games began again. I certainly don't believe I know the answer to that either, but I can imagine the thought crossing my mind if I were in their shoes. But once again, inevitably, I'm not in a position to know, let alone to believe anything about it.

Now back to basketball...