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Effigy wrote:He blew up a good Jazz team for no reason and it's been very slow going trying to rebuild it.

That team was going no where. He was right to blow it up.

Ainge was considered a really good GM because he was able to execute really lopsided trades with Billy King and Kevin McHale. It's harder to do that in today's NBA.

As far as his current *assets,* the Jazz gave up the corpse of Rudy Gay, cap space, and a second to get Collins. That's basically what they got back. Clarkson never should've received that last extension. He had negative value as soon as he signed it. Sexton had late first round value when the Cavs shopped him heading into his last year on a rookie deal. While there was some marginal improvement after three seasons, a good first asking price was never realistic.

Maybe he cost the Jazz a lotto protected 1st by holding him too long. I say maybe because Sexton was reported as available at least three times since the Mitchell trade. That's meh to me. The bigger sin is holding out on guys who are winning you meaningless games over the course of multiple seasons.

Inigo Montoya wrote:

Effigy wrote:He blew up a good Jazz team for no reason and it's been very slow going trying to rebuild it.

That team was going no where. He was right to blow it up.

They went much further than they've gone SINCE the trade. They have absolutely nothing to show for it so far. People are so quick to say 'oh they can never win a title, blow it up!' but we've seen teams like the Dirk Mavs and the Lowry Raptors stick with their teams and make adjustments but never fully blow it up and get rewarded with a title. And nothing the Jazz have done so far has made giving up those 2nd round (and maybe better) playoff appearances worth it.

Effigy wrote:

Inigo Montoya wrote:

Effigy wrote:He blew up a good Jazz team for no reason and it's been very slow going trying to rebuild it.

That team was going no where. He was right to blow it up.

They went much further than they've gone SINCE the trade. They have absolutely nothing to show for it so far. People are so quick to say 'oh they can never win a title, blow it up!' but we've seen teams like the Dirk Mavs and the Lowry Raptors stick with their teams and make adjustments but never fully blow it up and get rewarded with a title. And nothing the Jazz have done so far has made giving up those 2nd round (and maybe better) playoff appearances worth it.

They blew things up 3 seasons ago, no one expects them to make the conference finals (which would be further than that team) so soon after that. The Jazz are going through a rebuild, of course they'll do worse, that's the whole point (building through the draft).

Effigy wrote:He blew up a good Jazz team for no reason and it's been very slow going trying to rebuild it.

For no reason? His two stars hated each other, and the younger star made it pretty clear he wasn't going to re-sign with the team.

ORLMagicGirl15 wrote:GMs probably wised up and refused to play his game. And now with the new CBA, they have to be shrewd as ever.

It’s the exact same thing with Pat Riley. He went from bending teams over in trades in the past to nobody wanting to deal with him. This is one of the rare instances of him winning a deal

Effigy wrote:

Inigo Montoya wrote:

Effigy wrote:He blew up a good Jazz team for no reason and it's been very slow going trying to rebuild it.

That team was going no where. He was right to blow it up.

They went much further than they've gone SINCE the trade. They have absolutely nothing to show for it so far. People are so quick to say 'oh they can never win a title, blow it up!' but we've seen teams like the Dirk Mavs and the Lowry Raptors stick with their teams and make adjustments but never fully blow it up and get rewarded with a title. And nothing the Jazz have done so far has made giving up those 2nd round (and maybe better) playoff appearances worth it.

Retooling works when your best players dont want out. Mitchell was hinting at asking out. Once his trade request is made public, as they always are, his value tanks. We get lesser players for the same cap space cost. Not to mention we still would have had the ghost of Mike Connely (he was serviceable the first year and half post trade but is cooked now)eating the cap.

It also works when you have tradable assests. Jazz didn't. They didnt have any first round picks because they kept trading them to rent a PG. I believe they gave up 5 FRP's in 5-6 years rentng PG's. They didnt even have second rounds picks as those they kept trading for cash considerations. You should look at the players we had on the team and see that we didnt have any real positive assests. Any trade would have been a lateral move.

I personally would have been fine keeping Gobert and Mitchell with a new coach- Jazz desperately needed to move on from Snyder, if those two wanted to stay around for another season or two, but that wasn't the case and their value was at their highest when they were traded.

Was John Collins even an asset? I'm pretty sure every team he is on is always trying to trade him lol

He's a great GM, he got Jalen Hood-Schifino for absolutely nothing.

Johnny Fontane wrote:It’s the exact same thing with Pat Riley. He went from bending teams over in trades in the past to nobody wanting to deal with him. This is one of the rare instances of him winning a deal

I don't know about that. He's made deals with quite a few teams since he came to the Jazz. Off the top of my head:

Timberwolves- at least twice
Lakers
Clippers- at least three times
Raptors
Pistons
Cavs
Suns
Wizards
Hornets
Hawks
Heat

Obviously no one expects him to win every trade but that's a third of the league he's traded with. Doesn't seem like nobody wants to deal with him.

His only job right now is a clean slate ...

Next trades will be Kessler and most likely Lauri too.

SlimShady83 wrote:His only job right now is a clean slate ...

Next trades will be Kessler and most likely Lauri too.

He should have traded Lauri a while ago. Now his value has tanked. Another Ainge disasterclass

Agree with the op.
Just because he doesn't wanna give their protected pick to the okc, this season, they maybe lost 2 or 3 first rounders.

Ridiculous. Sexton, Claxton and Collins would get you at least 3 first rounders 5 months ago. Lolololololololol.

RRR3 wrote:

SlimShady83 wrote:His only job right now is a clean slate ...

Next trades will be Kessler and most likely Lauri too.

He should have traded Lauri a while ago. Now his value has tanked. Another Ainge disasterclass

Don't know about that, I just know they'll trade them both soon enough to who and when?. I doubt they'll keep Kessler and Lauri on what 3/4 year contract? no need to trade him, but why keep him, they going to rebuild around him??

Billy King’s stupidity and KG wanting out of MIN have probably made Ainge overrated.

RRR3 wrote:

SlimShady83 wrote:His only job right now is a clean slate ...

Next trades will be Kessler and most likely Lauri too.

He should have traded Lauri a while ago. Now his value has tanked. Another Ainge disasterclass

If bailey doesn’t work out they should get rid of both Ainges. No one wants a 5+ year rebuild

Memories wrote:
I hope Jazz fans aren't falling for this bullcrap. They are being gaslight into thinking these are good moves.

Oh, trust me, the unique Utah faithful are, but the cracks in the foundations are showing and its getting obvious he's a washed hoarder. BTW, its Danny's boy, Austin, now calling the shots - chip off the old block for sure, apple not falling far from trees etc. So, like the entire country, only about 20% are keeping up with their, um, teams management, and in that minority, its pretty split on fanbase support. Somehow dumping Rudy and Mitchell have returned, like, zero dividends at this point. Ainge didn't adapt to how the market works these days. He has literally lost every trade since he dismantled the 2020-2021 league best record team. Its a pretty stunning fall from grace. Yeah, that team had some chemistry issues, but it was just a tweak away from making a title bid. Danny fumbled that one nicely - sigh.

Inigo Montoya wrote:

Effigy wrote:He blew up a good Jazz team for no reason and it's been very slow going trying to rebuild it.

That team was going no where. He was right to blow it up.

He could have tried just moving Gobert vs both Rudy and Mitchell. With the haul he got back from the Wolves, he could have tried spinning that into something around Mitchell and that team right now would be better than whatever is current going in Utah.

Seems like he was trying to strike magic in a bottle twice with the Boston rebuild of moving your top 2 guys for a huge haul and the quick rebuild... the problem there is Boston hit on two of their lottery picks almost instantly.

They also just haven't had good enough picks yet. 2023, their first post-Gobert/Mitchell lottery ended up with 8 (Taylor Hendricks) and 17 (Keyonte George). Two total busts there. 2024 was Cody Williams at 10, arguably the worst player in that draft so far, certainly the worst in the lottery... and 29 Isaiah Collier... for where he was picked... he's fine but far from a franchise changer like. Still got a lot of time for their careers but I see very little promise in Cody. We'll see what Ace is like... books out there, but yeah, he needs to be a DUDE for this rebuild to have any chance of not going for another 5 years.

They should cash out on Larui too, but not sure anyone is taking that contract.

Hate to see it.

bisme37 wrote:

RRR3 wrote:

bisme37 wrote:
they did in 2008

This is like saying Rob Pelinka is a great gm because of what Nico did.

I didn't say he's a great GM, or even touch on that really.

I said you guys have been hating on the dude for ages and I don't know when he was considered an elite GM around here.

At worst, he's always been known as a heist artist. The trades where he got Garnett, moved Garnett, and moved Gobert are considered some of the heists of the century. For awhile the heist artists were among the best GMs in the league but I think it's gotten harder for them to pull the wool as GMs have wisened to what's a good or bad draft capital investment.