Will 2009-2010 define Ainge more than any year before

[Havlicek17]

After taking over at GM and building up our young players/assetts, (the frandchise was in terrible shape payroll and assett wise when he got here) Ainge had two options. He could've gone with a full blown youth movement or stay with Paul and surround him with other similar aged veterans.

I agree that missing out on the first two picks had a huge impact on making the decision to go with Paul, but probably just as significant a milestone was Paul resigning with the Celtics before the draft and before we made any of those trades. Paul resigning with the team after having such a poor record and so many young players was a leap of faith by Paul. He not only showed his loyalty to the organization, but also laid the foundation for Danny to build around him. I am sure Danny promised to get somebody to help Paul too.

After the decision was made to go with Paul, then the first attempt was made to get KG. KG had been rumored to be leaving the Twolves for 1 to 2 years before he actually did, so I am sure he was the main target for Danny (and most GM's in the league at that time) all along. When KG turned us down, for a package that included our first round pick, plus Al, etc, Danny started looking for alternatives. He had to do something to get a veteran allstar to help Paul and pre-draft was the best time to do it with all the hype and player movement that typically surrounds the annual draft. Ray was the best option available at the time.

Danny had no way of predicting if KG would change his mind on Boston, and after trading away the first round pick, if the TWolves would even do it. So I think we lucked out in the end by getting both Ray and KG, but I think KG was the main target to start.

[JMillott]

I think that when he traded Davis and Blount for Szczerbiak and more importantly the future 1st rounder he knew that KG would became available and that the Wolves would covet the chance to get their own pick back.

I believe this belief kept us from dealing Al Jefferson for any other available star from Iverson to Gasol because he realized Jefferson and that Wolves 1st rounder made us the favorites to land KG when he did become available.

He did 100% luck into Ray Allen as a byproduct of the Sonics looking to kill attendance to get out of their lease. It was also driven by us missing out on Kevin Durant who I believe Ainge still covets as his longterm target to replace Paul Pierce when the time comes.

That bit of luck allowed us to do three very important things,A) We got Ray Allen on the cheap making KG change his opinion on coming here. B) We dumped Wally Szczerbiak who even when healthy didn't fit here and whom KG hates and wasn't interested in playing with again. C) It kept us from making a bad draft pick in YI Jianlian who while talented had no spot on a roster with Pierce, Jefferson, Powe, Szczerbiak and Gomes.

As good as the 2007 Draft class was the top three were really the only guys we truely would've been impactful enough to keep Pierce from asking out.

The best thing that Ainge has truely done here as GM is that he has rallied to turn his mistakes around to work out in the longterm. Not getting Brandon Roy in the 2006 draft was a major mistake that Ainge erased by trading those mistakes out the door in the Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett trades.

Giving Mark Blount not just to much money but also to many years and a trade kicker based on 60 games. Then he dumps him on the Wolves basically ensuring that KG would become available in a couple years making it a masterful move.

The problems facing the Celtics future are simply now a matter of being a slave to the aging process vs the development process. Will Rondo, Perkins, Powe, Pruitt, Walker, Giddens and O'Bryant develop faster then KG, Pierce and R. Allen decline?

So far the answer seems to be yes as Ray Allen looks better then he has in quite sometime with his ankles getting further and further away from his surgeries it is looking more and more like he does fall into the Reggie Miller, Dale Ellis type whose shooting doesn't go away overnight.

Pierce and Garnett aren't a great concern because both figure to have three to four years left of this calibur of play. Both of them fall into the stereotype of players that last until age 35-36 or so leaving the window open four or five years including this one.

The next big challenge facing Danny Ainge isn't replacement of these guys, its actually talking them into taking smaller contracts so Ainge can keep the core together but also add to it with guys like Rasheed Wallace and Mike Miller perhaps taking the roles of Glen Davis and Brian Scalibrine.

[campybatman]

I think that when he traded Davis and Blount for Szczerbiak and more importantly the future 1st rounder he knew that KG would became available and that the Wolves would covet the chance to get their own pick back.

I believe this belief kept us from dealing Al Jefferson for any other available star from Iverson to Gasol because he realized Jefferson and that Wolves 1st rounder made us the favorites to land KG when he did become available.

If I recall correctly, Philadelphia desired more than A. Jefferson and G. Green for Iverson which I believe was the first rumor out there in connection to Boston. I don't recall what it would've taken to acquire P. Gasol for Boston. But, from what I'd read Ainge had a serious interest in Iverson and Marion.

What Ainge had in his favor was McHale really was fond of Al and his game and he [McHale] realized that their first round pick shouldn't have been traded off the begin with. Ainge gave him the opportunity to reacquire it. Boston was actually willing to give Minnesota for the most part what they'd wanted in a trade. Whereas, Phoenix, Los Angeles (Lakers) and Golden State (I think) were all reluctant about something that they would've to give up. Once Ray Allen was acquired and Szczerbiak was moved, Boston became the favorite (once Garnett showed a willingness to come to Boston) outright.