Danny 'WaRChEsT' Ainge was playing Chess while much of RealGM was playing Checkers.

[Basileus777]

It's kind of funny to make this thread now when the Celtics wouldn't have made the finals if they hadn't fired Ainge.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

I mean, regardless of what anyone says, finessing Philly and ending up with Tatum (I think it's also worth remembering Bender was the consensus #3 that year, not Tatum) was the best draft move in the last decade.

Bender wasn't even in the same year

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[Pointgod]

Ainge has always been an overrated GM living off of the absolute fleecing from the Nets trade. Brad Stevens was responsible for a lot of the success of the Celtics teams, just like coaching is responsible for a lot of their success now. I’ll give Ainge credit that he didn’t trade either of the two J’s for immediate success and let the team gel. But that’s about it.

[Heat3]

It took like 9 years to make the finals after deciding to tank. Nah, he wasn’t playing chess.

[xinxin]

It was obvious that the Celtics just needed time with JT & Brown. They were too good to give up on too quickly .. even if some Celtics fans wanted to blow up team as early as 2-3 seasons ago.

With this young core, they’re set to contend for seasons to come


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[antonac]

I mean, regardless of what anyone says, finessing Philly and ending up with Tatum (I think it's also worth remembering Bender was the consensus #3 that year, not Tatum) was the best draft move in the last decade.

Bender was the Brown draft (2016).

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/version-v--the-vertical-s-2016-nba-mock-draft-235403807.html

sorry, you're right. it was Josh Jackson that was the #3 on most mocks. I knew it was a double shock when they first traded the no.1 pick then passed on the guy everyone had at 3.

anyway, I'm not even a Celtics fan. I kinda want the Warriors to win in the finals, but the one constant I've noticed here is everyone is always "advising" the Celtics should do things that only the Celtics fans don't want.

it's almost like they secretly want them to fail...

[myronbolitar]

Ainge has always been an overrated GM living off of the absolute fleecing from the Nets trade.

Spoken like someone who doesn't pay attention. Boring.

Danny Ainge was right. Stevens deserves a lot of credit, Ime deserves a ton...but Danny Ainge was right.

[DroseReturnChi]

ainge is still mediocre. most of his warchest busted. just look at him destroying utah in 1 yr.

[Pointgod]

Ainge has always been an overrated GM living off of the absolute fleecing from the Nets trade.

Spoken like someone who doesn't pay attention. Boring.

Danny Ainge was right. Stevens deserves a lot of credit, Ime deserves a ton...but Danny Ainge was right.

That laughable trade is what put Danny Ainge in the position to land Tatum and Brown. His drafts have been meh when you isolate Tatum and Brown. For every Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, there’s James Young, Gershon Yabulese, RJ Hunter, Romeo Langfords. Ainge has had ALOT of bites at the apple if you look at the sheer volume of draft picks he’s had. I’ll give him credit for staying the course because I don’t think they’re in the finals if they had traded for Harden or Anthony Davis. Coaching deserves more credit for performance than Ainge.

[Jadoogar]

Honestly i've seen more Celtics' fans downplaying his impact than anyone else.
I also don't understand the criticism of his drafting. He got 1 superstar and 1 allstar in the top 4, 1 insanely impactful role player at #6, and 3 role players in the late 20s. Yes he missed on some picks in the teens but more often than not, picks in the teens don't amount to much.

[UcanUwill]

I mean, regardless of what anyone says, finessing Philly and ending up with Tatum (I think it's also worth remembering Bender was the consensus #3 that year, not Tatum) was the best draft move in the last decade.

Bender was the Brown draft (2016).

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/version-v--the-vertical-s-2016-nba-mock-draft-235403807.html

sorry, you're right. it was Josh Jackson that was the #3 on most mocks. I knew it was a double shock when they first traded the no.1 pick then passed on the guy everyone had at 3.

anyway, I'm not even a Celtics fan. I kinda want the Warriors to win in the finals, but the one constant I've noticed here is everyone is always "advising" the Celtics should do things that only the Celtics fans don't want.

it's almost like they secretly want them to fail...

it wasn't a shock, everyone knew Ainge loves Tatum and is selecting him. You are right tho that a lot of people argued Jackson will be better, but everyone knew Celtics are taking Tatum at that point. It wasn't a shock he traded down cause everyone knew his favorite prospect isn't in concensous top 2, we had reports that it's happening and would have been shocking if trade down didn't happen. I don't know in what world you lived for those moves to be shocking to you, it was telegraphed for months. Ainge said post draft he would just taken Tatum first if he didn't talk Colangelo into trade.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Ainge has always been an overrated GM living off of the absolute fleecing from the Nets trade.

Spoken like someone who doesn't pay attention. Boring.

Danny Ainge was right. Stevens deserves a lot of credit, Ime deserves a ton...but Danny Ainge was right.

That laughable trade is what put Danny Ainge in the position to land Tatum and Brown. His drafts have been meh when you isolate Tatum and Brown. For every Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, there’s James Young, Gershon Yabulese, RJ Hunter, Romeo Langfords. Ainge has had ALOT of bites at the apple if you look at the sheer volume of draft picks he’s had. I’ll give him credit for staying the course because I don’t think they’re in the finals if they had traded for Harden or Anthony Davis. Coaching deserves more credit for performance than Ainge.

what you described is one heck of a draft record

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[G35]

Staying the course will yield longer term benefits than going for short term gains which will yield shorter benefits.

- Warriors benefitted by keeping Steph and Klay together
- Celtics benefitted by keeping Smart, Tatum, and Brown

It doesn't matter what the fans think... we always have an opinion. It matters what management thinks and do they believe in the players. Too often I think we give up on executing a plan and not having the fortitude to see it all the way through.....

[LewisnotMiller]

I mean, regardless of what anyone says, finessing Philly and ending up with Tatum (I think it's also worth remembering Bender was the consensus #3 that year, not Tatum) was the best draft move in the last decade.

Bender was the Brown draft (2016).

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/version-v--the-vertical-s-2016-nba-mock-draft-235403807.html

sorry, you're right. it was Josh Jackson that was the #3 on most mocks. I knew it was a double shock when they first traded the no.1 pick then passed on the guy everyone had at 3.

anyway, I'm not even a Celtics fan. I kinda want the Warriors to win in the finals, but the one constant I've noticed here is everyone is always "advising" the Celtics should do things that only the Celtics fans don't want.

it's almost like they secretly want them to fail...

Yup, Jackson was seen as a likely Celt target prior to the lottery, but he made it pretty clear Boston wasn't his preferred destination.
Once we got the #1, everyone kinda assumed it would be Fultz, but apparently Tatum's workout was pretty great...and I'm guessing Fultz's wasn't.

[DroseReturnChi]

It's kind of funny to make this thread now when the Celtics wouldn't have made the finals if they hadn't fired Ainge.

all ainge cares is youth and value. he is a good tank commander but you dont want him to lead to rings.
he was fired when he realized he could fleece no one (all fired) and he was getting fleeced. what ainge lacks is creativity he would have never traded for kawhi to get a ring.

[meekrab]

Look Ainge was great and all but Billy King was the best GM in Celtics history.

[ForeverTFC]

The majority said the Jaylen Brown deal was bad? Unless proof, I call BS. That was a great deal at the time.

Yeah that one made me say "Huh?". Pretty sure most people thought it was a great contract at the time and that Brown would have gotten way more had he been an RFA.

He's right. Majority of this board thought it was an overpay at the time.

What isn't an overpay on this board?

If I just look at the Raptors roster for example:
Siakam - mocked and called an overpay
OG - mocked and called an overpay
FVV - mocked and called an overpay
Trent - mocked and called an overpay and not long enough at the same time

The Ainge criticisms were real (and I still believe very justified). The other stuff, just another day on the GB tbh.

[Buckeye-NBAFan]

Ainge has always been an overrated GM living off of the absolute fleecing from the Nets trade. Brad Stevens was responsible for a lot of the success of the Celtics teams, just like coaching is responsible for a lot of their success now. I’ll give Ainge credit that he didn’t trade either of the two J’s for immediate success and let the team gel. But that’s about it.

A lot of those immediate success trades, Butler in 2017, Leonard in 2018, AD in 2019, could have resulted in a title in 19 or 20, depending on the deal. The real miss was Butler at the 2017 deadline, as the benefit of a crowder + nets pick for Butler trade is no kyrie trade the next summer. I guess there were also Butler 2016 rumors, but the asking price was way higher then, and Butler wasn't actually traded, whereas the other deals all happened and Boston could have beat them.

Tatum, Butler, Brown would be quite the trio.

[myronbolitar]

Ainge has always been an overrated GM living off of the absolute fleecing from the Nets trade.

Spoken like someone who doesn't pay attention. Boring.

Danny Ainge was right. Stevens deserves a lot of credit, Ime deserves a ton...but Danny Ainge was right.

That laughable trade is what put Danny Ainge in the position to land Tatum and Brown. His drafts have been meh when you isolate Tatum and Brown. For every Robert Williams, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, there’s James Young, Gershon Yabulese, RJ Hunter, Romeo Langfords. Ainge has had ALOT of bites at the apple if you look at the sheer volume of draft picks he’s had. I’ll give him credit for staying the course because I don’t think they’re in the finals if they had traded for Harden or Anthony Davis. Coaching deserves more credit for performance than Ainge.

1. Nobody thought the trade was laughable at the time. To think otherwise is revisionist history.

2. Danny Ainge tore the Celtics down in 2003 and by 2007 had assembled the best roster in the NBA. He had done this before.

3. The rebuild from 2013 - trading Doc, sending PP and KG to Brooklyn - all the way to 2017, to the Kyrie trade - was perfectly played by Ainge, and there were a ton of smaller moves in there, like taking on Marcus Thornton's contract to facilitate LeBron's return to Cleveland, netting a first rounder, making Pat Riley mad in the process, and sending that 1st rounder months later for Isaiah Thomas.

4. As a GM, you can't mess up the big stuff. Ainge didn't. Homeruns on the '16 BKN pick (Brown) the '17 BKN pick (Tatum) and the '18 pick was used for 25 year-old Kyrie. The small stuff - Yabusele, Young, Hunter, Langford...really doesn't matter as much. And Ainge has proven that he can hit on those late picks, too. Did he every time? Of course not. Was he a good drafter on the whole? Absolutely. And that, combined with his ability to make trades, sign free agents (see Horford, Hayward), and stay patient, when idiots in the media and on places like RealGM are screaming for a reactionary move are why he was a great GM, and why, even after the Celtics lost a ton of talent for nothing over the last few years in Kyrie, Hayward, Horford, Rozier, Morris, etc. - are STILL in as great a position as they are today.

[lonzo_pelota]

Was he playing Cheese? By my math last boston title was 2008, last finals appearence was 2010 and its 2022 now right....and he's no longer apart of management....