JonFromVA wrote:jbk1234 wrote:JonFromVA wrote:So, Danny Ainge may just be retiring on paper. He might be considering new offers. I would have been super interested in snagging Brad Stevens if he was the one the Celtics gave up on, but Ainge at least deserves a moment of thought as an experienced GM and culture setter that we've lacked.
The fact he'd be coming from Boston is disgusting, but I suppose I could get over that as sort of a reversal of losing Bill Fitch to those guys. The black spots on his record as a dirty dealer would seem to be the main concern. Of course he's also been criticized for holding on to his assets too tightly and for signing Kemba ... but he hires good coaches and he's created competitive teams, even won a championship without tanking.
Also consider he probably wouldn't come in as our GM, we'd probably slot him in over Altman as President of Basketball Ops, so he might not even be dealing with other GMs directly.
But we're not going to get an experienced FO person like Ainge to join the organization unless the Cavs can convince him that Dan is in no place to meddle with the team and is ready to or literally has no choice but to step back.
My concern with Ainge is his perception among players after the the IT trade. He's also made some statements regarding players talking about social issues and/or politics that I'm sure the players found off putting.
In addition, I think his reputation precedes him, fairly or not, among potential trade partners. I think he's damaged goods tbh.
It would certainly hurt in terms of using our POBO as a player recruiting tool, but in terms of vision, strategy, and team-building it would be an upgrade. Anyway, sounds like Utah might be where he ends up.
These opportunities to add a successful executive are few and far between, and it would be nice if DG was at least considering spending on something that could make a huge difference without hurting our cap.
The entirety of his success is linked to two very lopsided trades and neither McHale nor Billy King are around to trade with anymore. The Celtics ownership group is on record as saying that they made Ainge go back and ask for more picks, twice, in that Nets trade.
But I'd argue that the record for his long term vision is a bit mixed, and that's putting it charitably. It's no secret that he was hording draft capital for AD. He didn't really have a plan B and the Celtics have been looking for a good big man since they shipped out KG. He burned through Brown and Tatum's rookie deals without adding that young big. Kyrie, Horford and Hayward walked for nothing.
His best attribute was in getting guys already on the roster to buy into signing team friendly deals, and after what happened with IT, I think that's over.
But he's not leaving the Celtics in a great spot. They're a tax team that's on the clock with Smart's contract. Their starting PG is on the wrong side of 30, has bad knees, and two years left on a max deal. His later lottery picks are meh and have limited trade value. Part of me wonders if he pulled a Morey here and left before he had to pay a small ransom to get off of Kemba's deal.
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