Ainge misses out on another superstar, overrated GM

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

I think he tries too much to "get one over" on his trade partners. Seems like a lot of the GMS don't want to deal with him anymore.

Reminds me of a few years ago, there was an agreed upon trade with the Suns where Amare Stoudemire would've been traded to a mystery team. The GM of the receiving team didn't plan on keeping Amare, but thought they could flip him for a better package. The GM accidentally called the Suns GM and told them the plan and asked what they would be willing to offer for Stoudemire. So he basically called the team and told them he was ripping them off. The rumor at the time was that it was Ainge who agreed to trade Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo for him. I think the incident made a lot of other teams weary to trade with him. It's pretty funny, though.

that is funny, thanks for sharing that story.

Ainge reminds me of this guy who used to be in our Fantasy bball league. He would never, ever, make a trade unless you met his ridiculous demands. Even if you went far and above and gave him a great deal because you were desperate, he would then decide he wants even more, to try and exploit you even further.

Eventually nobody talked to him anymore and he never fixed the holes on his team.

[Metallikid]

Great, except that's not at all the hypothetical you just posted.

That's exactly my hypothetical. It's called pretending. Use your imagination.

You guaranteed a boston title with harden vs no chance of ever winning one with tatum and brown

In the other you guaranteed a toronto title with kawhi vs having giannis for the rest of his prime career and maybe winning a title

But yeah, those are exactly the same things

Dude, it was a hypothetical, you're the one who had to make me have to give you some comparison so that you would engage the hypothetical. Either tell me, or shut up.

[hoosierdaddy34]

Chris Mannix story being prepped “Ainge aggressively pursued, “came close” to landing Harden”

[scottyno]

That's exactly my hypothetical. It's called pretending. Use your imagination.

You guaranteed a boston title with harden vs no chance of ever winning one with tatum and brown

In the other you guaranteed a toronto title with kawhi vs having giannis for the rest of his prime career and maybe winning a title

But yeah, those are exactly the same things

Dude, it was a hypothetical, you're the one who had to make me have to give you some comparison so that you would engage the hypothetical. Either tell me, or shut up.

I already told you almost every fan, really of any team, would take the guaranteed title. But in this case that title is far from guaranteed and the celtics have way more overall championship equity by keeping tatum brown and smart together for years instead of hoping tatum and harden immediately gel and win right away. Toronto was in a totally different situation where it made sense to make the move.

Toronto had DDR who they already wanted to get rid of and the spurs happened to want, the equivalent would be the celtics giving up kemba+ for harden instead of brown+ which I'm sure is a gamble the celtics would take.

[Metallikid]

You guaranteed a boston title with harden vs no chance of ever winning one with tatum and brown

In the other you guaranteed a toronto title with kawhi vs having giannis for the rest of his prime career and maybe winning a title

But yeah, those are exactly the same things

Dude, it was a hypothetical, you're the one who had to make me have to give you some comparison so that you would engage the hypothetical. Either tell me, or shut up.

I already told you almost every fan, really of any team, would take the guaranteed title. But in this case that title is far from guaranteed and the celtics have way more overall championship equity by keeping tatum brown and smart together for years instead of hoping tatum and harden immediately gel and win right away. Toronto was in a totally different situation where it made sense to make the move.

Toronto had DDR who they already wanted to get rid of and the spurs happened to want, the equivalent would be the celtics giving up kemba+ for harden instead of brown+ which I'm sure is a gamble the celtics would take.

I actually don't think that's the fairest comparison. DeMar had just turned 29 when we traded him and he's never had an injury that's required surgery. (He had a crotch strain one time) Kemba is almost 31 and has a history of injury issues and is coming off of surgery. Also, Masai never 'wanted to get rid of' DeMar. People forget that Masai re-signed him the first minute of 2016 FA so those absolutely ridiculous cap spike contracts happened immediately afterwards and in comparison DeMar's contract has actually looked completely fine or been a plus value in retrospect.

[RB34]

Lol..

CP3 knowing the C’s luck he would of been injured when it matters.

KL would of left

AD would of left and said he would.

PG meh would much rather Tatum and Brown.

[Saint Lazarus]

Chris Mannix story being prepped “Ainge aggressively pursued, “came close” to landing Harden”

Read on Twitter

Don't let this stop your delusions though

[Gooner]

Boston is not a destination for superstars, that's the problem. It's not worth the risk, they got good core and there is nothing wrong with keeping it.

[gavran]

The day Pharmcat opens decent thread will be the day the Knicks win the championship.

[therealbig3]

Well seeing how good Brown is right now, I think it would have been dumb to trade him for Harden. Harden likely walks in 2 years, they probably don't win the title in either season, and you lost a blue-chip prospect like Brown who's legitimately playing like a top 10-15 player in the league and is only 24 years old for a rental of James Harden.

Philly should have traded Simmons. He's just not that good, and it's better to have moved him while the "potential" label is still there for him. But Brown is legit, he's capable of being the #2 on a championship team.

[FlatearthZorro]

Boston is not a destination for superstars, that's the problem. It's not worth the risk, they got good core and there is nothing wrong with keeping it.

That's true, the only superstar that BOS got was Garnett and it was a trade, took some convincing per reports and KG was close to 31 years of age when he was traded.

B level stars, maybe but not top 5-10 guys.

[Pantsman]

They didn’t need harden but they could have at least gotten Allen.

[LakersLegacy]

At some point, Ainge needs to be called out for his lack of action to acquire a premiere all star. He has missed out on PG, KL, AD, Harden, CP3, Im running out of fingers to keep it counting.

Ainge problem is he is too emotionally attached to this assets, sometimes you just need to let it go in order to go for the ring. Right now, they are capped out as a ECF round team not having enough stars to move on.

He will be a case study on missed opportunities by a GM.

Ainge also lost Kyrie who Harden is teaming up with

[GrindCityHustle]

Anytime a star is traded in the league there is a thread on why ainge didn't trade for him lol

[ClubLakers KB8]

I hate the Celtics more than most. I also believe Ainge is an overrated GM based on his overall reputation around the league. Not calling him bad, just overrated.

With that said, I don't see how you can go after Ainge here. Did you want him to make an offer to compete with that? The Celtics have two players who they can build around for a long time. They have Kemba, picks, other decent assets that could help their team immensely should the right offer come around.

So why want Harden? Is taking the ball out of Tatum and Brown's hands and giving it to a player who will stunt their growth at 42 million a season smart? This isn't trading for AD who can smash a game without dominating offensively. This isn't a trade for a Gobert. This isn't even a 3 and D Jeremi Grant type that could allow them to play small with hustle... This is Harden. Adding a black hole who basically bottoms out at a 35% usage rate is not what they want.

Hell, if they wanted to add that salary and not gut themselves for the future totally they could have just found a way to flip Kemba for CP3. At least that could make sense roster wise.

[patman66]

Legitimate question - What would you prefer?

Trading Brown for Harden and winning the 2022 title

or

Keeping Tatum and Brown together for the duration of their careers with Tatum being a HOF level player and Brown being a 'team retirement' level player, but you never get past Game 7 of the ECF

You forgot the other option- They trade Brown and Smart for Harden. Don't win it next year, and then Harden walks, leaving the C's with Tatum, maybe Kemba, and some huge gaping holes. Harden was NOT worth the risk. Plus right now, Brown is producing at a level which makes the trade so much easier to say "no" to.

That's not what the hypothetical is. The question is would you rather have one title with Harden and perhaps have a smaller overall period of success if Harden leaves, retires, or declines rapidly after Ainge gives him an extension. Or would you prefer not winning a title but having Brown and Tatum become Celtic legends? This is a real question. Teams who have never won a title have less leeway in this department.

I rather have our core of players I enjoy watching playing winning basketball. I can see how winning a championship is important for the actual team, but for me as a fan, it makes you happy for a day or two and then it is on to next year. Never mind from a business perspective it makes no sense. First and foremost unless your team is owned by a billionaire the GMs job is to make money for the owner.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Imagine what the criticism would be if a deal fell apart because Ainge wouldnt include Payton Pritchard. Cuz its weird to see an Ainge bashing thread on a day where Maxey was the piece that caused Morey to balk on Harden.

[donnieme]

Tbf every disgruntled star traded to a team not on their list went on to leave said team. I'm sure the Celtics would rather have Sexton than lose Kyrie for nothing but if Ainge didn't do that deal it would be another non-trade to use against him

[CoP]

Doesn't look like he was really on the Celtics' radar recently:

Read on Twitter

Now what about the other 29 GMs who didn't trade for him? Should we have threads for all of them?

[myronbolitar]

Let me get this straight: Ainge's Celtics have lost 3 max players over the last 18 months (Kyrie, Horford, Hayward) AND, in the eyes of many posters here, missed massive opportunities to trade for superstars. Do I have that right? If so, the Celtics must be in REALLY bad shape, right?

Huh. Because right now, they have the best record in the Eastern Conference, they're led by 22 year old and 24 year old star two-way wing players (both of which who are locked up for years to come), have a handful of good supporting veterans, a bunch of young guys who may or may not be anything, and they own all their own picks going forward.

If this board had its way, Ainge would've traded his entire cache of assets for DeMarcus Cousins years ago. And then Jimmy Butler after that. And then Paul George after that.

98% of this thread have no idea what they're talking about, and are driven by total ignorance, a hate/jealousy for Ainge, or both.