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

[Capn'O]

Let’s not forget that both Tatum and Brown were drafted using the Nets picks.

That trade was such a flagrant ass whooping

[LewisnotMiller]

OP just setting himself up for some humble pie in a week

I stated we hadn't won anything yet. Only people needing humble pie are the Ainge mockers. I haven't said anything except Ainge deserves credit/respect for his good work instead of RealGM sh$%*ng on him forever.

Yep better take your victory lap now before you can't anymore

You judge a GM purely on rings?
Seems...flawed.

[Johnny Bball]

They wouldn't be in the final if Ainge was still GM and they wouldn't have got off his mistakes in walker and Fournier as quick. and they might have got here sooner if they got rid of him sooner.

Walker was an ironman before he joined the C's, as you've been reminded of before. Fournier was a punt to see if he'd help get us over the hump. What were thr long term percussions of trading a 2nd rounder for an expiring Fournier?
He'll they almost made the finals with an injured Kemba and injured Hayward.
Ainges luck with injuries was simply awful.

Neither played defence and neither was a good fit in the first place. If by punt you mean bad decision and just gambling.. sure thing.

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

*Re-signs Marcus Smart for 4 year $78 million contract. Majority of RealGM screamed this was stupid.
-Smart makes multiple All Defensive teams and becomes DPOY.

*Re-signs Robert Williams for 4 year, $48 million contract ($12 million per year) Copped plenty of crap for this too.
-All NBA defense 2nd team, leader in NBA FG% and 3rd in blocked shots. (0.1 blocks away from taking title from Gobert).

Brad Stevens was responsible for these re-signings.

But it doesn’t take away from your point, Ainge did an amazing job, right up to and including the point of understanding when to step away and who should take over. Good symmetry with what Brad recognised as coach.

[TeamTragic]

Never doubt the Ainge effect

[dk1115]

Even though it was well said by OP, I want to say I'm disappointed. I thought this was a youtube video of Danny Ainge playing Chess.

[ITYSL]

OP just setting himself up for some humble pie in a week

The Celtics have made the Finals with players drafted by Ainge playing the vast majority of total team minutes. Even if they lose the Finals, the OP is still correct.

[robbie84]

*Re-signs Marcus Smart for 4 year $78 million contract. Majority of RealGM screamed this was stupid.
-Smart makes multiple All Defensive teams and becomes DPOY.

*Re-signs Robert Williams for 4 year, $48 million contract ($12 million per year) Copped plenty of crap for this too.
-All NBA defense 2nd team, leader in NBA FG% and 3rd in blocked shots. (0.1 blocks away from taking title from Gobert).

Brad Stevens was responsible for these re-signings.

But it doesn’t take away from your point, Ainge did an amazing job, right up to and including the point of understanding when to step away and who should take over. Good symmetry with what Brad recognised as coach.

You're right. They'd been haggling about these two for a while, and the deal was made in 2021 just as Stevens took over?

[scottyno]

Best move was getting rid of Thomas to avoid having to pay him a long term deal when it was obvious it would cripple the franchise even if everyone thought he “deserved” it. Kyrie didn’t work out but all that matters is he avoided catastrophe if he would’ve signed IT. Less steadfast GMs would’ve given in to the pressure and given IT the huge deal.

His best move was identifying Tatum as the guy he wanted in the 2017 draft. His second best move was taking Brown instead of Dunn Bender or Hield. If he gets those moves wrong then none of his other moves matter.

[ITYSL]

They wouldn't be in the final if Ainge was still GM and they wouldn't have got off his mistakes in walker and Fournier as quick. and they might have got here sooner if they got rid of him sooner.

Walker was an ironman before he joined the C's, as you've been reminded of before. Fournier was a punt to see if he'd help get us over the hump. What were thr long term percussions of trading a 2nd rounder for an expiring Fournier?
He'll they almost made the finals with an injured Kemba and injured Hayward.
Ainges luck with injuries was simply awful.

Neither played defence and neither was a good fit in the first place. If by punt you mean bad decision and just gambling.. sure thing.

I agree with you that it was time for a new GM and coach, but that still doesn't take away from the fact that this is a team that is built around really good Ainge draft picks

[Ballerhogger]

Let’s not forget that both Tatum and Brown were drafted using the Nets picks.

That trade was such a flagrant ass whooping

Even more salt add Boston made it to finals before they did after the fact .

[robbie84]

They wouldn't be in the final if Ainge was still GM and they wouldn't have got off his mistakes in walker and Fournier as quick. and they might have got here sooner if they got rid of him sooner.

Walker was an ironman before he joined the C's, as you've been reminded of before. Fournier was a punt to see if he'd help get us over the hump. What were thr long term percussions of trading a 2nd rounder for an expiring Fournier?
He'll they almost made the finals with an injured Kemba and injured Hayward.
Ainges luck with injuries was simply awful.

Neither played defence and neither was a good fit in the first place. If by punt you mean bad decision and just gambling.. sure thing.

Neither played defense but Kemba was an All NBA player and scorer, who suffered a career crashing injury after being an ironman his entire NBA career.
Not sure how that's Ainges fault? Let me guess, you think we should have re-signed Isaiah Thomas too?

You also didn't answer my question about Fournier. What were the awful long term implications of trading a 2nd rounder for Fournier?

You'd just prefer to ignore the entire list of players he drafted that got us to the finals here, and instead point out the 2nd rounder we lost for Fournier, and the knee injury to Kemba that Ainge should've seen coming looking into the future.

We wouldn't be in the finals this year if Danny Ainge hadn't built this house.

[amedawg00]

The best decision trader Danny made was also his most heartless when he traded Isaiah Thomas as opposed to backing up the brinks truck.

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk

[TheGOATRises007]

Eh, Ainge was always great.

He got one ring, and he would have had at least another if he didn't constantly have previously injury free all-stars either fall to injury in their primes: IT, Kemba, Hayward. Or mental issues in Irving (at least he was always injury prone so that wasn't new).

What other team has had 4 20 something all-stars without injury issues fall off the cliff due to injuries in about 6 years?

Injuries is what stopped Ainge from a second ring. Hell one might even argue KG's injury in 2009 did the same thing but at least he was in his 30s so those things happen and are within the realm of normal probability events.

The Celtics weren't winning a ring in 2017, 2018 or 2019.

The KG injury was way more of a detriment to title chances.

[username_taken]

The best decision trader Danny made was also his most heartless when he traded Isaiah Thomas as opposed to backing up the brinks truck.

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They traded him to a team that had f***ing LeBron on it. Always found it moronic that people found that heartless. He literally got moved to a better team.

[LakersLegacy]

He was really fortunate the 76ers gave him Tatum and #1 picks for Tatum. 76ers were beating down his door for that stupid trade

[username_taken]

He was really fortunate the 76ers gave him Tatum and #1 picks for Tatum. 76ers were beating down his door for that stupid trade

Getting Tatum had nothing to do with the Sixers. If Ainge thought there was any chance that the Sixers or Lakers were going to take him, the trade never gets made. Tatum was always the guy.

[robbie84]

OP just setting himself up for some humble pie in a week

I stated we hadn't won anything yet. Only people needing humble pie are the Ainge mockers. I haven't said anything except Ainge deserves credit/respect for his good work instead of RealGM sh$%*ng on him forever.

Yep better take your victory lap now before you can't anymore

You can turn my words into anything you want buddy. Go ahead.

[Mr_Mojo_Risin]

*Re-signs Marcus Smart for 4 year $78 million contract. Majority of RealGM screamed this was stupid.
-Smart makes multiple All Defensive teams and becomes DPOY.

*Re-signs Robert Williams for 4 year, $48 million contract ($12 million per year) Copped plenty of crap for this too.
-All NBA defense 2nd team, leader in NBA FG% and 3rd in blocked shots. (0.1 blocks away from taking title from Gobert).

Brad Stevens was responsible for these re-signings.

But it doesn’t take away from your point, Ainge did an amazing job, right up to and including the point of understanding when to step away and who should take over. Good symmetry with what Brad recognised as coach.

You're right. They'd been haggling about these two for a while, and the deal was made in 2021 just as Stevens took over?

Not immediately after he took over but just prior to the season starting if memory serves.

[robbie84]

His draft history overall is pretty "meh" but his dedication toward the existing core seems to be paying off. Credit to Stevens for bringing back Horford, hiring Udoka, trading for White, etc. It's those kind of roster-complementing moves that elevate teams from pretender to contender

Everything you're saying is true. Only thing I don't agree on is his draft history being questionable. He whiffed some but also had some very, very good picks with mid/late round selections. He never had any decent picks until Marcus Smart- and from there on he hit loads of home runs.
Like which GM's is he 'meh' compared to ?