It's an embarrassment.
I'm so fed up with Danny Ainge that I can't even fully express it. Cousins is the best center in the NBA by far - it's not even remotely close.
Boston could have almost certainly had him for the cost of a 2018 Brooklyn Pick, Jaylen Brown a second rounder, and filler.
We could have added the best center in the game without breaking up our core, and without even giving up the 2017 Brooklyn pick.
This is disgraceful. I've defended Ainge's moves constantly over this entire rebuild phase, but he has lost all credibility and all of my faith right now.
He had better pull off a trade for either Jimmy Butler or Paul George as an absolute minimum after this, because if he turned down a chance at Cousins for anything less then that he should be fired on the spot.
I am absoltely dumbfounded right now.
For DA to not be involved (as per reports), it goes to show you he had zero interest in Cousins and his loser attitude. It's really telling that was the best deal SAC could her for him. They just wanted to get rid of him at any cost.
That's not accurate.
The more accurate statement would be to say that for DA not to be involved shows that he's a complete moron.
He could have gotten Serge Ibaka for darn near nothing, but he wasn't interested.
He could have acquired Carmelo Anthony for (it seems) scraps, but he isn't interested.
He could have gotten Demarcus Cousins for a bit more then scraps, but he isn't interested.
How many bargain deals for quality players have to slip by before Ainge realises that the Nets deal, Crowder deal and Thomas deals were just lucky...and that you can't go on only making deals that are completely one sided.
He refuses to make ANY deal for extablished talent if it means giving up any assets of even remote value. It's rediculous.
Ibaka? No, he's contract is expiring.
Melo? No, he's too old.
Cousins? No, his personality is too difficult.
Greg Monroe? No, not interested in bigs who dont shoot threes.
I'm sure he's sitting there right now trying to think of excuses to let a Jimmy Butler deal float on by. What - he's not a good enough three point shooter?
This is an embarrassment. Ainge traded away legends (Pierce and KG) and basically sold his soul so that he could avoid a long and painful rebuild. He spent the last 3 or 4 years building up a sea of assets so that when that big deal for a star comes along, he's in a position to make it happen.
Now he has all of the assets in the world, he's got trades for star and fringe-star players going left, right and center, and all he wants to do is sit on his assets.
Why? So he can keep "cap flexibility"? What like last year, when he throw $28M a year over the next four years for a declining fringe-star who's playing like a 6th man - while the big star went on to sign with Golden State?
So he can keep all these draft picks, none of whom have proven to even be starting caliber players so far?
How many free agencies and drafts is Danny going to have to go through to get it in to his thick skull that the free agent market and the NBA draft are massive gambles. How many times is he going to have to watch while guys taken late in the draft outperform his lottery picks, or while all the top free agents decided to sign with other teams?
How long is it going to take him to realise that the only way to GUARANTEE you will land a star is by trading for one?
How long is it going to take him to realise that trading for one is going to mean giving something up in return?
Ainge keeps talking the talk - he keeps saying he wants to pull a big time trade, not waste time with small trades that don't move the needle. Yet he allows trades like Demarcus Cousins to float by him, while he apparently focusses on guys like PJ freaking Tucker.
This team is in desperate need for inside scoring, for rebounding, and for another go-to scorer who can help carry the offensive load and give IT a break. Demarcus Cousins would have solved every single problem we have. Picking him up right now (when Love is hurt) would have made Boston the favourites in the East, above even Cleveland.
So maybe he has attitude issues. Maybe he comes in and kills chemistry. Maybe he just doesn't get along with guys. If that happens, then you move him and you say "hell, we gave it a try". When a deal like this comes along, you have to take a chance. You can't let stuff like this slip through your hands when you've spent the past X many years telling the world you want to create fireworks.
You want fireworks? Well Demarcus Cousins is a bloomin' cruise missile.
As I said, right now it's Jimmy Butler, Paul George, or bust. Neither of those two guys is as good as Cousins so it would still be a disappointment, but I could live with it based on the "personality" argument - and I can swallow that.
Anything less then that right now will be an absolute embarrassment.