I'm still waiting on one of these "Ainge screwed up because he didn't draft player x" posters to link where they said the Celtics should draft that player (Giannis, Draymond Green) prior to the NBA draft of that year. Until then, I chalk those posts up as someone craving attention and using hindsight to try to make themselves appear smart but don't really have any original ideas to offer.
It's funny you mention Draymond Green cause that was my guy. I wouldn't have passed on Sully for green but Fab Melo. Yeah I would have taken Green.
With Gianni's. I new about him from other people on this board, and yes the we're at least a few people here that were high on him.
It's Ainges job to know. If you ever seen Gianni's n Real life it makes you go back and watch more tape. He's a real freak.
*chuckle*
Look, I think almost all of us would rather have Giannis right now over Kelly. That's fair. And making a fictitious trade proposal is fine too.
But your entire post goes to proving my point. "...that was my guy" is exactly the kind of stuff I was talking about. Simply put, prove it. Go find your post prior to the draft that year that unequivocally says that Green was your guy. Most every time I've made that challenge I don't get a response. The only time anyone has ever answered that challenge they linked one post that suggested that player x was someone to watch - and then I easily found another half dozen posts that listed about 8 players in that draft as ones to consider. If you can link your post that says Green was "your guy", then I'll offer major props to you for having great foresight and I think you'd have great reason to complain that Ainge didn't draft your guy at that point. Until then, it's all just hindsight whining and moaning and it doesn't take a genius to do that.
When I hear "Ainge screwed up because he didn't draft player x" or "it's his job to know", I consider the circumstances. In Giannis' case, there are 30 GMs in the NBA and not one of them knew because if they did every single one of them would have made the Bucks an attractive enough offer to get them to grab him. He happens to be a physical freak who continued to grow and is rounding into a stunning player. Simply put, the Bucks got lucky. Don't tell me it's "Ainge's job to know" because that's a cop out. He's not clairvoyant. He's not omnipotent. The real question is how often does he hit or miss against his peers? That's how you evaluate anyone in the real world and the answer to that is Ainge's track record is pretty [dang] good.
Now you're right in that a number of people had Giannis on their lists that year but they had him along with quite a few other potential players. It doesn't take much to say "here are 4 guys potentially available at draft pick #xx that we should consider". That's easy. The trick is to say "here are 4 guys to consider and out of the 4
this is the guy we should select" and then explain why that's the guy. Because ultimately that's what Ainge or any GM has to do.