What The Hell Is Ainge Waiting For??

[Hemingway]

It's like there is a certain percent of posters here who seem to really think that every year we don't radically improve it's because Ainge is a moron. It's not a video game people, you can't just decided to trade for stars, click a few buttons and in 10 minutes you have them.

I am resigned to people not getting this.

They just sound like Lakers fans though, which is a bad look.

I don't think anyone would be complaining if the Celtics had at least one future all star on the team.

Yeah cause no one complained before when we had 1 Allstar (Pierce.) we could have 5 Allstars and there would still be complaints.

[djbilly33]

We're not going to be better next season. We caught teams off guard and towards the end of the season other teams were resting their starters. I am predicting this team as constructed will either match the win total of last year or win a few less, maybe in the 37-39 range.

Please do not start the rumor of KD coming to Boston, that isn't happening!

[iadera]

None of those trades look like good ideas to me.

Exactly. It is obvious that Danny didn't just fell of the tree.
Maybe Farried, but the rest is all worse than we already have.

[iadera]

They all signed big names, but still they will watch us from behind. Knicks, Lakers, Bucks, Pacers,...
If nothing changes until the end of trade dead line, with this team, we can be far better than last year. But I am pretty sure that some new names will arrive. To improve our chances, of course.

[M.A.]

It takes two to tango....

[Greenbean]

I have not read all of the repsonses but my take is that Danny has been trying to move assets for stars but he is finding the value of these assets is low right now.

He (and us fans) desperately need one or two of the roster players to make a huge leap this year to increase their value. There are no trade centerpieces on this team and the picks with the most value are not guareanteed high picks. Im looking at you Sully and Smart. KO developing into a consistent and confident offensive stretch 4 would be ahuge bonus.

[Hemingway]

We need to get to the point where any top 10-15 type player could look at us and think, if I went there I could win a title. Maybe top 4 in the east. If we can improve to that level it is ok to be a treadmill team while you wait for a superstar to trade for. To be a consistently good team that sometimes wins the title, thats what you hope for. Like the Spurs. So, for me playing above 500 ball, making a trade mid season that gets us another IT level or better player and getting to the second round would be a big success.

[PhoSita]

The Celtics have a favorable cap situation and too much young talent to take an intentional step backwards. 

In the absence of the acquisition of a potential core piece via moving up in the draft or free agency, I would have been OK with trading off Bradley, Turner, and possibly one of Sullinger or Olynyk, using cap space to acquire future assets, and making a low risk buy-low signing or two e.g. Biyombo.

Head into next year ready to give the young guys big minutes and see what they can do. 

I just think the Celts are on track to be in the same position next off-season on draft night and in free agency as they were this year.  They seem to be OK with that.

[PhoSita]

We need to get to the point where any top 10-15 type player could look at us and think, if I went there I could win a title.

I agree with this.  However, I feel like reaching that point will require drafting at least one really good player, probably a couple.  Maybe one of these mid to late 1st round scratch tickets will pay off big, but I'd rather draft in the top 10 for that purpose.

Asset acquisition is great, but it also has diminishing returns.  Part of finding the exciting young players is continuing to till the soil to churn up fresh earth.  In other words, trade off the players who have topped out at "just another guy" level.

[Boris Badenov]

Other than the KG and Ray deals, what other trades has he made that he's "won"?

Comments like this are just silly.

2/19/04- Ainge takes on some fairly minimal salary and ends up getting a future first for his trouble.  That first turns out to be Tony Allen, who had a lot of solid years in Boston

2/8/05 - Ainge flipped the corpse of Jiri Welsch to Cleveland for a future first

6/28/06 - Ainge gives up a heavily protected future pick for the rights to Rajon Rondo, who you may remember was an all-star caliber PG for the C's for roughly half a decade.

2/18-10 - Ainge flipped a bunch of garbage to NYK for Nate Robinson, who played a pretty important part in the 2010 NBA finals run.

7/12/13 - Gave up Pierce and Garnett and got a treasure trove of unprotected draft picks in return.

More recently I would say the Rondo trade was a fleecing. The IT trade was an unqualified success. And the Pierce TPE trade for Zeller and a 1st rounder (which was the one we flipped for IT) was pretty good.

[Scintan]

We need to get to the point where any top 10-15 type player could look at us and think, if I went there I could win a title.

I don't think anyone disagrees with this.

Maybe top 4 in the east. If we can improve to that level it is ok to be a treadmill team while you wait for a superstar to trade for. To be a consistently good team that sometimes wins the title, thats what you hope for. Like the Spurs. So, for me playing above 500 ball, making a trade mid season that gets us another IT level or better player and getting to the second round would be a big success.

I think here's where recent history shows you to be taking the wrong approach.

[gpap]

It's like there is a certain percent of posters here who seem to really think that every year we don't radically improve it's because Ainge is a moron. It's not a video game people, you can't just decided to trade for stars, click a few buttons and in 10 minutes you have them.

I expect bold and creative moves that advance the rebuild in some way.  At least something like the Zeller trade last year. 

Ainge has basically just pressed pause.  He added a couple of large expiring contracts, basically, who will help the team maintain around 40 wins.  Content to be in pretty much the same position a year from now.  I don't see the point in that.

First of all, you get IT4 for the entire year. He changed the dynamic of the team by himself in limited time. Second, Amir is far better than Bass, a huge upgrade there, and is defensively better than any 4 or 5 on the roster. That's going to help a ton and play a big part in the success of the team.

Then you got Smart being more comfortable with a year under his belt, plus your rookie class.

That's not pressing pause to me. That's moving forward.

Don't misunderstand me, I like Isaiah. But he was awful in the playoffs and the Cavs really exposed him. He's a good point guard and I think he's a lot better than Rondo. I just hope he hasn't been exposed and teams learn to defend him differently so he isn't as effective as he was between the trade to Boston and the 1st round of the playoffs.

[gpap]

It's like there is a certain percent of posters here who seem to really think that every year we don't radically improve it's because Ainge is a moron. It's not a video game people, you can't just decided to trade for stars, click a few buttons and in 10 minutes you have them.

I expect bold and creative moves that advance the rebuild in some way.  At least something like the Zeller trade last year. 

Ainge has basically just pressed pause.  He added a couple of large expiring contracts, basically, who will help the team maintain around 40 wins.  Content to be in pretty much the same position a year from now.  I don't see the point in that.

First of all, you get IT4 for the entire year. He changed the dynamic of the team by himself in limited time. Second, Amir is far better than Bass, a huge upgrade there, and is defensively better than any 4 or 5 on the roster. That's going to help a ton and play a big part in the success of the team.

Then you got Smart being more comfortable with a year under his belt, plus your rookie class.

That's not pressing pause to me. That's moving forward.

So aside from a modest upgrade at PF (with a guy who will likely be gone in a year or two), the team will simply rely on development from within.

How is that not standing pat?

Look, if you think there's a future star on this roster, then I guess this might make sense.  That's not my point of view.

Even if Ainge feels that way, I would hope for a move that used the trade exceptions or cap space to add future value. Maybe the big "expiring" contracts will be really useful in a trade.  I'd rather have done something like what Philly did in acquiring one of last year's top 10 picks.

So glad you brought this up. What about all these trade exceptions that Ainge accumulated that were also supposed to be "assets"? He hasn't done squat with a single one of them.

[gpap]

Some people forget that trading/transactions are for the most part a 2 way street.
Both parties have to agree to the deal.

How would you know that "trader danny" has not been actively putting out trade proposals out there?

What if he gets shut down, because they know he's an aggressive trader and wins most of the trades he makes?

Other than the KG and Ray deals, what other trades has he made that he's "won"?

-EDIT: I'll give you the Rondo trade. That was a decent deal. He dealt Rondo before he totally lost any trade value he had and he got a draft pick, a good player in Crowder who contributed to our success last year and Brandon Wright. Speaking of which, why didn't he keep Wright? Would've been nice to have kept him for his rebounding and athleticism. He got 19 mil over 3 yrs from Memphis.

I think you answered your own question.  He would have been looking for similar cash from the Celtics, and doubtful he would have gotten it.

Rak

I am talking about last season. They could've and should've kept Wright last season. He could've done really well for us.

[jbpats]

While I don't agree with the players the original post refrenced I do agree with the overall sentiment. I wish Ainge was more aggressive in FA, make an offer to Harris, go after Lopez or Koufos etc.
hell even take a shot at LA or Monroe. What's the worst that could happen? They sign elsewhere? At least give it a shot, show players we are looking to win, not just sit back and see how things go