A Salute to Cold, Hard, Calculating Danny Ainge

[Casperian]

My sentiments exactly. The thing i love bout it is the majority have acted negative towards this, and yet Danny has the balls to do it. So many gm's in this league couldn't handle that heat.

He's had to face all this heat after he made the trade...so "yet Danny has the balls to do it" is a bit meaningless.

Oh please, I think Danny knew exactly what kind of reaction he had to expect, itīs not exactly rocket science.

One thingīs for sure, Danny has "bolas de acero", as they say in Spain.

[LilRip]

I'm sure I would hate to see him on the Celtics. Him being on the magic has nothing to do with it. I don't just hate everyone who isn't on the Celtics. He's always slagging off his coach and teammates to the media. You think because he puts up big numbers that makes it okay? That's not a team player; that's not productive. That just shows he is all about himself. He's passive aggressive and non-confrontational. He doesn't understand sacrifice. Yea he smiles too much on the court. He giggles to himself and can barely contain his glee when he knows the cameras are on him. I could go on about this but it's probably better to just say personally I don't like him and I don't want him wearing the Celtic uniform.

oh please, you know full well that it's not just putting up big numbers. it's putting up big numbers and putting the effort on both ends of the floor and leading your team to a victory. it's not like he's going T-Mac on them by averaging 30ppg while in the middle of a 13-game losing streak.

i'm reminded of something Sasha Vujacic said earlier this season. He said he could score 20 or 30 any night but he just doesn't want to because he's too unselfish and too much of a team player. I suppose you'd prefer a guy like Sasha over Dwight then huh? Give me a guy who can score 40 points on 20 shots while blocking 6 shots and grabbing 15 rebounds.

saying "he doesn't understand sacrifice" is a strong statement. I'm actually perplexed as to what exactly you mean by this. Do you mean off the court, that he doesn't know how to sacrifice? that he should do gestures like have Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu in all his media appearances, and refer to them as the big 3? or do you think that the Magic team is better off not passing it to him and choosing instead to live and die with a Gilbert Arenas 3? because i don't. Or should he stop trying to score despite having an obvious mismatch down-low or having good position? After all, god forbid that he shoot because he's only scoring at around a 60% clip for the year. Dwight prioritizes defense, both individual and team, and i don't ever recall him freezing out his team offensively. He's not some sort of black hole on offense (ala Kobe or even BBD).  there's a world of difference of how much you should defer on the court when your teammates are borderline all-stars (Magic) or legitimate all-stars (Heat, Lakers, Celtics). do you think guys like Jameer, Hedo, JRich, Arenas & Reddick would fare significantly better than how they're doing now with the Magic?

lastly, i don't care if he smiles on the court. just like i didn't care when Perk scowled on the court. i didn't care when Nate flapped his arms whenever he or someone else made a 3 or a highlight play. not wanting Dwight because he smiles is like not wanting Rondo because he used to wear his headband upside down or not wanting KG because he bangs his head against the basket stanchion. it's petty.

[bruinsandceltics]

I'm sure I would hate to see him on the Celtics. Him being on the magic has nothing to do with it. I don't just hate everyone who isn't on the Celtics. He's always slagging off his coach and teammates to the media. You think because he puts up big numbers that makes it okay? That's not a team player; that's not productive. That just shows he is all about himself. He's passive aggressive and non-confrontational. He doesn't understand sacrifice. Yea he smiles too much on the court. He giggles to himself and can barely contain his glee when he knows the cameras are on him. I could go on about this but it's probably better to just say personally I don't like him and I don't want him wearing the Celtic uniform.

oh please, you know full well that it's not just putting up big numbers. it's putting up big numbers and putting the effort on both ends of the floor and leading your team to a victory. it's not like he's going T-Mac on them by averaging 30ppg while in the middle of a 13-game losing streak.

i'm reminded of something Sasha Vujacic said earlier this season. He said he could score 20 or 30 any night but he just doesn't want to because he's too unselfish and too much of a team player. I suppose you'd prefer a guy like Sasha over Dwight then huh? Give me a guy who can score 40 points on 20 shots while blocking 6 shots and grabbing 15 rebounds.

saying "he doesn't understand sacrifice" is a strong statement. I'm actually perplexed as to what exactly you mean by this. Do you mean off the court, that he doesn't know how to sacrifice? that he should do gestures like have Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu in all his media appearances, and refer to them as the big 3? or do you think that the Magic team is better off not passing it to him and choosing instead to live and die with a Gilbert Arenas 3? because i don't. Or should he stop trying to score despite having an obvious mismatch down-low or having good position? After all, god forbid that he shoot because he's only scoring at around a 60% clip for the year. Dwight prioritizes defense, both individual and team, and i don't ever recall him freezing out his team offensively. He's not some sort of black hole on offense (ala Kobe or even BBD).  there's a world of difference of how much you should defer on the court when your teammates are borderline all-stars (Magic) or legitimate all-stars (Heat, Lakers, Celtics). do you think guys like Jameer, Hedo, JRich, Arenas & Reddick would fare significantly better than how they're doing now with the Magic?

lastly, i don't care if he smiles on the court. just like i didn't care when Perk scowled on the court. i didn't care when Nate flapped his arms whenever he or someone else made a 3 or a highlight play. not wanting Dwight because he smiles is like not wanting Rondo because he used to wear his headband upside down or not wanting KG because he bangs his head against the basket stanchion. it's petty.

TP for both your posts.

[Cman]

I'll hold off on saying anything good or bad about him right now.


As for Howard, can we please stop talking about him? It's not going to happen and you guys are going to be sad.

I like his talent. But I'm not sure I could live with his "funny" interviews for years with green on.

If it does happen, there are going to be some many people on here saying "OH I CALLED IT!" when in reality they were the ones saying "Not gonna happen like" this.

To say it is not going to happen outright is almost as bad as saying it is going to happen outright. But it is pretty clear what Danny Ainge's intentions are now after that trade deadline and you can be [dang] sure courting Dwight Howard is at the top of that list. Now, the question is can he make it happen or not, but it is pretty clear that Ainge wants DH12 in the Celtics uniform in 2012.

He would love DH, no question.  But I don't think the goal is to build with him in mind; rather, its to build with flexibility in mind.  If that flexibility results in DH, great, but there are other players the Cs could target as well. (Deron Williams?  Kevin Love?  Brooke Lopez?).

Edit: Also, between a new contract for Jeff Green, Krystic, BBD, the Cs might not have as much money available in 2012 as one might think.  Plus won't they have holds in place for Ray Allen and KG? 

[Rondo_is_better]

He, Perk and Doc all cried when the trade went through.

[Jon]

Yeah.  Let's remember that the only way we're going to have Howard is if we renounce KG, Ray, and possibly even Green and Baby.  So it's not going to be this team a little older + Howard.  It's going to be Rondo, Pierce, a bunch of nobodies, and Howard.  And even if we were to do that, there's a very low chance he comes.  Ask New Jersey, Chicago, and New York how the the LeBron sweepstakes worked out for them. 

As for Ainge, it's too early to tell.  Anyone claiming that this trade definitely will work or definitely won't is being presumptuous. 

I'm liking the idea more by the day, but we need to wait and see. 

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

My sentiments exactly. The thing i love bout it is the majority have acted negative towards this, and yet Danny has the balls to do it. So many gm's in this league couldn't handle that heat.

He's had to face all this heat after he made the trade...so "yet Danny has the balls to do it" is a bit meaningless.

Dont be silly. Danny was obviously heartbroken giving away perk, and knew others would feel the same as he was drafted here and grew into a man here, that's just common sense. but he had to do the smart business move. He clearly knew how close those guys were, way better than you or me knew by the way. And yet he did not act on emotion and got something good for perk while he could. It takes balls to make such a predictably unpopular move.

You're saying Danny was heart broken in a thread where you're commending him for being "cold, hard and calculating"...lol.

Common sense, like you said, tells me that "heart broken" and "cold, hard and calculating" don't belong in the same argument.

I didn't make this thread or say this move was 'cold' so your wrong on that one. It's not like we screwed perk for something good and sent the guy to the Cavs or something. We gave Perk one of the best situations he could have landed in. But I do believe moving perk was a 'hard' move to make and 'calculated'. It was a calculated step to improve our roster in a way we havent seen, which included trading a beloved player. Danny loved perk. I can't imagine he didnt feel at least some sadness having to let go of the guy after all these years. These people aren't robots, I doubt either one made up the thing about tears in thier eyes, and yet he made a calculated move by getting some value for him while we could. So that, i commend him for. Are you saying Danny wasn't sad to let him go? Are you saying that it wasn't obvious fan reaction would be negative? I don't even get what your trying to argue with me about.

[KobeShesNotConsenting!]

Oh yea and to the above argument, either way I have a feeling Green is here to stay, and I'm glad

[garz]

I'm sure I would hate to see him on the Celtics. Him being on the magic has nothing to do with it. I don't just hate everyone who isn't on the Celtics. He's always slagging off his coach and teammates to the media. You think because he puts up big numbers that makes it okay? That's not a team player; that's not productive. That just shows he is all about himself. He's passive aggressive and non-confrontational. He doesn't understand sacrifice. Yea he smiles too much on the court. He giggles to himself and can barely contain his glee when he knows the cameras are on him. I could go on about this but it's probably better to just say personally I don't like him and I don't want him wearing the Celtic uniform.

oh please, you know full well that it's not just putting up big numbers. it's putting up big numbers and putting the effort on both ends of the floor and leading your team to a victory. it's not like he's going T-Mac on them by averaging 30ppg while in the middle of a 13-game losing streak.

i'm reminded of something Sasha Vujacic said earlier this season. He said he could score 20 or 30 any night but he just doesn't want to because he's too unselfish and too much of a team player. I suppose you'd prefer a guy like Sasha over Dwight then huh? Give me a guy who can score 40 points on 20 shots while blocking 6 shots and grabbing 15 rebounds.

saying "he doesn't understand sacrifice" is a strong statement. I'm actually perplexed as to what exactly you mean by this. Do you mean off the court, that he doesn't know how to sacrifice? that he should do gestures like have Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu in all his media appearances, and refer to them as the big 3? or do you think that the Magic team is better off not passing it to him and choosing instead to live and die with a Gilbert Arenas 3? because i don't. Or should he stop trying to score despite having an obvious mismatch down-low or having good position? After all, god forbid that he shoot because he's only scoring at around a 60% clip for the year. Dwight prioritizes defense, both individual and team, and i don't ever recall him freezing out his team offensively. He's not some sort of black hole on offense (ala Kobe or even BBD).  there's a world of difference of how much you should defer on the court when your teammates are borderline all-stars (Magic) or legitimate all-stars (Heat, Lakers, Celtics). do you think guys like Jameer, Hedo, JRich, Arenas & Reddick would fare significantly better than how they're doing now with the Magic?

lastly, i don't care if he smiles on the court. just like i didn't care when Perk scowled on the court. i didn't care when Nate flapped his arms whenever he or someone else made a 3 or a highlight play. not wanting Dwight because he smiles is like not wanting Rondo because he used to wear his headband upside down or not wanting KG because he bangs his head against the basket stanchion. it's petty.

First of all I think you're taking liberties with what I said and attacking things that I didn't even say.

Where did I say he doesn't put in effort? He definitely does. Where did I say he's not a great player? Where did I say I like Vujacic? (I don't).

When I say I don't think he understands sacrifice I mean he seems to think as long as he does everything "right" with himself, his game, that fulfills his obligation, and if the universe doesn't then conform to make him happy then he acts like an injustice has been done to him. That's not how it works. This is just how I perceive him. Like I said I think he's selfish. If he has a problem with his teammates he slags them off to the media. That isn't good for the team. That doesn't help his teammates. It's just self-serving.

And again with the smiling thing. It has to do with his attitude. It just contributes to the appearance that he's in love with himself. It's not petty to dislike that.

I don't care if you like him. You're not alone. I just wanted to offer my feeling that personally I don't ever want to see him as a Celtic. I think it would be a disgrace. I don't expect us to agree. I'm not really interested in getting in to a heated argument about it. You like him, I don't. Let's just leave it at that.

[clover]

When is the last time the Celtics signed a top-tier free agent? Maybe Howard will become the first?

  When is the last time we had the cap space to sign a top-tier free agent?

When in the modern era have we had a GM with the foresight and discipline to a) build a championship-caliber team and b) bring such a team into a replenishing salary cap situation?  What Danny's been doing is extraordinary.  In that sense, he has managed to construct a, gulp, Lakers East.

[CeltsAcumen]

When is the last time the Celtics signed a top-tier free agent? Maybe Howard will become the first?

  When is the last time we had the cap space to sign a top-tier free agent?

When in the modern era have we had a GM with the foresight and discipline to a) build a championship-caliber team and b) bring such a team into a replenishing salary cap situation?  What Danny's been doing is extraordinary.  In that sense, he has managed to construct a, gulp, Lakers East.

I dont know, you make it sound like Ainge is so far above the curve of NBA GMs.  That might be TOO much praise for a guy who was handed the best PF in the league and the best 3 pt shooter in the league.  How difficult is it to add support for 4 all-stars?  Cant be too hard bc Miami is doing the exact same thing?

What Ainge did was a gamble.  Gamble that Miami and Chicago can be beat in a 7 game series without Perkins. Gamble that the Spurs, Mavs and OKC can beat the Lakers.  Gamble that the Lakers will not wake up and care.  Gamble that Jeff Green is James Posey at 24.  Gamble that Shaq and JO are coming back and are healthy.  Gamble that all the new players can fit in and contribute.

Versus a team that is 41-14, won a ring already and would of won a 2nd if the guy you traded had been healthy and got 1 single defensive rebound.

Maybe it does work out, but to say this is brilliant before Green plays a game is really hoping and not analysis.

I am a big fan of guys who work hard, play defense, rebound and have chemistry.  Jeff Green has only proven he plays hard so far.

Ill leave final judgment until the team is whole and Green has a shot to work into the system.

[CoachBo]

Heat? The negativity you see here is fan reaction. I don't EVER want a GM who operates this team like a fan.

[birdwatcher]

Heat? The negativity you see here is fan reaction. I don't EVER want a GM who operates this team like a fan.

Amen! The negativity in this town sucks! I applaud Danny for having similar stones to Bill Belicheck.

[cdif911]

Heat? The negativity you see here is fan reaction. I don't EVER want a GM who operates this team like a fan.

now there's an idea for what the NBA should do with the Hornets

give em to the fans - for 10 bucks per vote (minimum 5,000,000 owners) , you own a share of the team and majority rules (via internet voting) on all player/personnel decisions

[CoachBo]

Having been here on the nights Allen and Garnett were acquired, I can tell you conclusively that we'd all be sitting here wondering when the Celtics would win 30 if the fans on this blog were in charge.

And, of course, we'd be reading hyperbole about the greatness of Gerald Green as he enters his seventh Celtics season, how this is the year that Al Jefferson will actually defend someone, etc.

Thank God the majority on this blog don't rule the Celtics.