BullyKing wrote:Don't have much to add to this. I think it's a very fair and balanced take. I do question the overall direction a little in that you've got split time lines between Kemba/Hayward and Tatum/Brown but there wasn't much Ainge could do about that.
I am interested to see if Ainge changes his mentality a little going forward. We've heard all the jokes about him not putting prime assets on the table but I do understand his holding out for prime talents like AD. I do wonder though if this offseason makes him think that the NBA is just too unpredictable and changes too fast to pass up a current opportunity because you think a better one might come about in a year or two.
I actually like the overall direction given the circumstances. It’s usually better to be going full bore in one direction, but they’re just not well placed to do that. Too good to tank, not good enough to warrant pushing in all the chips for another star.
I’m not going to turn my nose up at Kemba just because it only makes us a playoff team and not a real contender. It keeps us in a good position to be 1-2 moves away to becoming one and stabilizes the franchise. If they had just rolled out Rozier/Brown/Tatum core I still think they’re a late lottery team rather than sitting pretty looking for a top 10 pick.
I don’t expect Ainge to change his mentality really, it’s just the way he is. He hoards assets and has his eyes for massive moves. I think Kemba falls in between. Reminds me of when he traded for IT even though it’d hurt their draft pick, but just on a bigger scale. You don’t turn down a good asset. I don’t even think Ainge even thinks he made a misstep by not making a move for Kawhi/PG/Butler given that they’re all on different teams now (and I think I’d agree with him apart from Kawhi).
I’d hope that he does though. I think 2021 is the lynchpin year where decisions need to be made because that Memphis pick will have conveyed, we’ll be off Hayward’s deal and Tatum will be up for an extension. That seems like a now or never type situation where if Ainge doesn’t push his chips in he just won’t have enough left to make a major move and he’ll be reliant on guys wanting to come to Boston rather than being able to make moves to bring them in.