Ainge Draft 2016: A+

[BitterJim]

I think a lot of this is just fueled by how awful talk radio has become in this town...It's as if fox news and msnbc have invaded and we just get a bunch of uninformed panelist talking.  If you listed to WEEI the only show that had the slightest clue was Holley, Arnold, and Thornton......and forget Felgar and Mazz.  Most of these shows didn't have the slightest idea who the top prospects were let alone what their strength and weaknesses might be.

Uninformed Boston sports media? Ok now I KNOW you are from the Celtics front office.

Wait, you don't actually think Felger and Mazz know what their talking about when it comes to basketball, do you?

[86MaxwellSmart]

I think a lot of fans were disappointed Ainge didn't make a trade draft night--with Chicago, Milwaukee or Philly. Dunn was viewed as a highly tradeable piece.

What I didn't realize is his strategy was to conserve cap space for free agency--no trades--so he had enough space to sign two max players. And the guys he is targeting are Durant and Horford. Horford apparently is someone Durant told Ainge he would like to play with.

Ainge didn't disclose his thinking after the draft directly. But it's clear now that was central to his strategy. He was looking beyond the draft.

You look at the draft from that standpoint, and I think he did very well. Chad Ford rated his draft A- for talent, F for addressing needs thru trades, etc. I'm sure Chad would like to change his grade, FWIW, now it's clear what Danny's aim was.

This doesn't mean Horford and Durant are in the bag. Other FA options are available, and trades can always be made. But he is setting aside the cap space and position openings for those two guys right now.

If this is true (which seems plausible)...Ainge is playing chess, while everyone else is playing checkers....I was upset with the lack of big moves--but the smoke has cleared, and I'm pretty upbeat now.

[walker834]

Zizic=Steven Adams.  Davis could be John Henson for all we know right now. Zizic is a good pick I feel.  He's our Ezeli or a guy like that.  It's a smart pick by Ainge.

BTW---Zizic has some Kevin McHale shoulders.

Does he have his armpits though?

[Chris22]

We got all these great players and a future first round draft pick.

Now we just need to sign some great free agents.

I am really looking forward to seeing our summer team play on July 4th.

[walker834]

All I know is if you read my initial mock I had us taking Bender at 3, Bryce at 16 and Qi at 23.  I was trying to get the bpa available at 3.  A more offensively geared Jerebko at 16 and a big man at 23.  I just felt the  way the draft was that's how it should go but even said this is my initial draft and If eel like I'm reaching and can do better. I also felt we had too many picks.  Ainge accomplished that but kept that philosophy.  During the draft I was saying all this stuff too that Ainge is going to take Bender or Brown and shock us all.  And at 16 as well.  And at 23.  He did what I was hoping for.  Getting jackson and Bentil in the 2nd is just icing.  Really good sparkplugs down the road potentially.

I had a wish and Ainge answered it.

[Eja117]

I think a lot of this is just fueled by how awful talk radio has become in this town...It's as if fox news and msnbc have invaded and we just get a bunch of uninformed panelist talking.  If you listed to WEEI the only show that had the slightest clue was Holley, Arnold, and Thornton......and forget Felgar and Mazz.  Most of these shows didn't have the slightest idea who the top prospects were let alone what their strength and weaknesses might be.

Uninformed Boston sports media? Ok now I KNOW you are from the Celtics front office.

Wait, you don't actually think Felger and Mazz know what their talking about when it comes to basketball, do you?

They're smart enough to know this team promised fireworks a long time ago and failed big time while other GMs got it done.

[PhoSita]

I'll admit, I was disappointed Ainge passed on both Davis and luwawu. Those guys were highly regarded by the majority of draftniks I read and listened to leading up to the draft. Both seem to fill needs for the Celts, as well.

But perhaps JeeJee and Yabu will be surprisingly good.

[CoachBo]

Yeah, I'll doff my cap to Ainge as well - when he actually does something meaningful in free agency.

Considering all the times that Cry Wolf Grousbeck has shot his mouth off without squat happening, you're going to have to excuse me if I suspect that what you see from the draft is what you're going to get from the 2017 Treadmill to Nowhere Celtics.

[PhoSita]

I sincerely doubt the Celts are better than fourth or fifth on the list of possible destinations for Durant and Horford, so forgive me if I don't place much value on the conserving cap space thing.

That said, I didn't really like any of the rumored deals.

[BitterJim]

I think a lot of this is just fueled by how awful talk radio has become in this town...It's as if fox news and msnbc have invaded and we just get a bunch of uninformed panelist talking.  If you listed to WEEI the only show that had the slightest clue was Holley, Arnold, and Thornton......and forget Felgar and Mazz.  Most of these shows didn't have the slightest idea who the top prospects were let alone what their strength and weaknesses might be.

Uninformed Boston sports media? Ok now I KNOW you are from the Celtics front office.

Wait, you don't actually think Felger and Mazz know what their talking about when it comes to basketball, do you?

They're smart enough to know this team promised fireworks a long time ago and failed big time while other GMs got it done.

Did I miss something?  Or do you mean the Love deal, where the price was WAY too high?  I'd be madder if Ainge had sold the farm for Love instead of watching the Cavs shoot themselves in the foot

Edit:  Also, that doesn't really make sense.  Wyc "promised fireworks" a few years ago, so Danny should have... made a bad deal to fulfill it?  And them reading an article from a few years ago somehow covers up for their total lack of knowledge about basketball?

I can tell a 5 year old that Wyc promised fireworks and get him to repeat it back to me, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about basketball

[Eja117]

I think a lot of this is just fueled by how awful talk radio has become in this town...It's as if fox news and msnbc have invaded and we just get a bunch of uninformed panelist talking.  If you listed to WEEI the only show that had the slightest clue was Holley, Arnold, and Thornton......and forget Felgar and Mazz.  Most of these shows didn't have the slightest idea who the top prospects were let alone what their strength and weaknesses might be.

Uninformed Boston sports media? Ok now I KNOW you are from the Celtics front office.

Wait, you don't actually think Felger and Mazz know what their talking about when it comes to basketball, do you?

They're smart enough to know this team promised fireworks a long time ago and failed big time while other GMs got it done.

Did I miss something?  Or do you mean the Love deal, where the price was WAY too high?  I'd be madder if Ainge had sold the farm for Love instead of watching the Cavs shoot themselves in the foot

Edit:  Also, that doesn't really make sense.  Wyc "promised fireworks" a few years ago, so Danny should have... made a bad deal to fulfill it?  And them reading an article from a few years ago somehow covers up for their total lack of knowledge about basketball?

I can tell a 5 year old that Wyc promised fireworks and get him to repeat it back to me, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about basketball

More than the apologists. Absolutely.

[celticmania]

I think  almost all of the players we have drafted in the last couple of years are going to be rotation players.  Still waiting to draft a 19 year old star. Maybe its Brown maybe its not but the way I look at it is, with the Brooklyn pick the next couple of years, we have a chance to add that one superstar through the draft.  And when this hypothetical player is getting ready to hit his prime, we'll have a bunch of other 25-28 year olds that can play. Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, RJ Hunter, Jordan Mickey, Jaylen Brown, Yabusele, Ante Zizic, Ben Bentil, Demetrius Jackson... They are all going to be pretty good in 2 to 3 years and still young. A good core to have around a couple of stars.  Not to mention our young veterans like Crowder, Bradley,  and Thomas that are going to be around for a while.  We are developing talent, while making the playoffs and getting top picks without tanking. While we wait for our next Paul Pierce or Larry Bird, we have a good team we can root for and young players we can enjoy watching develop. Not many teams are in a better spot for now and in the future.  All of this is because of the basketball genius: Danny Ainge. The guy that put us in this position now, made moves to win us a championship in the past, and recently hired a superstar coach. He deserves endless praise. Of course fans are free to criticise him, but just realize all he has done for the team at the same time.

[Geo123]

You're with the Celtics front office aren't you? It won't work.

I guess Chad Ford and Fox Sports and Hoops Rumors work for the Celtic too, right?

[BitterJim]

I think a lot of this is just fueled by how awful talk radio has become in this town...It's as if fox news and msnbc have invaded and we just get a bunch of uninformed panelist talking.  If you listed to WEEI the only show that had the slightest clue was Holley, Arnold, and Thornton......and forget Felgar and Mazz.  Most of these shows didn't have the slightest idea who the top prospects were let alone what their strength and weaknesses might be.

Uninformed Boston sports media? Ok now I KNOW you are from the Celtics front office.

Wait, you don't actually think Felger and Mazz know what their talking about when it comes to basketball, do you?

They're smart enough to know this team promised fireworks a long time ago and failed big time while other GMs got it done.

Did I miss something?  Or do you mean the Love deal, where the price was WAY too high?  I'd be madder if Ainge had sold the farm for Love instead of watching the Cavs shoot themselves in the foot

Edit:  Also, that doesn't really make sense.  Wyc "promised fireworks" a few years ago, so Danny should have... made a bad deal to fulfill it?  And them reading an article from a few years ago somehow covers up for their total lack of knowledge about basketball?

I can tell a 5 year old that Wyc promised fireworks and get him to repeat it back to me, but that doesn't mean he knows anything about basketball

More than the apologists. Absolutely.

So, instead of actually adding anything, you're going with "the people that disagree with me are all idiots"?  That's an extremely dangerous way of thinking

[Q_FBE]

I am OK with what Danny did in the draft. We kept all of our options open with cap space to sign FA and engineer trades either later this summer or at the trading deadline. We are already a playoff team that will improve as time goes on 😁