I think that would be a great addition. Would be a better fit than Kyrie. Give the team more shooting and spacing. And no locker room troubles.
Danny Ainge hoarded his precious draft picks like Golem. He passed on a trade for Paul George. He passed on a trade for Kawhi Leonard. He passed on a trade for Anthony Davis. He passed on a trade for Jimmy Butler. The one player her did spend assets for (Kyrie Irving) wants out and destroyed chemistry. He passed on signing maximum free agents, except Gordon Hayward who was a marginal player for the maximum and is hurt. He is letting Al Horford leave. So basically after it is all said and done he has Jayson Tatum who could be very good, but didn't really improve last year and Jaylen Brown going into his 4th season after plateauing. He had the #3 pick in 2016 and the #2 pick in 2017.... and that is all he has to show for it.
Interesting, i wonder if this means they'll let Rozier go...or maybe they'll trade Smart like ch said.
Agree with most of that, but Kyrie's a better shooter than Kemba. Sounds like Kemba would be a huge improvement in the teammate category though...
Ainge definitely is the type of GM who needs to A) feel like he is coming out wayyy on top of every deal he swings and B) needs to know he has somewhat of a long-term stake in the player he acquires. Unfortunately for him, the NBA landscape has changed. Players have more power than ever, and can basically control where they end up. If he wanted to maximize his assets, he needed to read the tea leaves better and take more of a risk with one of the stars you mentioned. Toronto played their hand perfectly, and basically showed Boston exactly what SHOULD have been done.
I just don't see it happening. It's Charlotte or Knixies or Lake Show, in that order, IMU*O! (*U-nderinformed)
Here we go again with this... Paul George made it very clear he wanted to go to the Lakers. Remember Magic's 500K tampering fine? Kawhi Leonard was heavily targeted by Ainge, but Popovich refused to make a trade with historic franchises. He even rejected every single Lakers proposal and only sent Kawhi to the Raptors thinking they wouldn't amount to much in the playoffs before Leonard bails on them in free agency. Anthony Davis and his agent Rich Paul made it very clear it's LAKERS ONLY. See the pattern here... LAKERS... LAKERS... F*CKING LAKERS? Jimmy Butler is the only real missed opportunity on your list. The first trade to the Wolves was the Thibodeau connection at work, but yes the second one to the Sixers was a bad miss by Ainge especially considering Butler was traded for not much in Covington and Saric who now plays for the Suns. The only asset Ainge gave up was the #8 pick which turned out to be Collin Sexton -- a potentially good starting point guard, but Celtics already have Rozier and Smart. However, dumping Isaiah Thomas with a broken hip -- who was also seeking a max contract -- in the process for two years of Kyrie Irving on the cheap was a tremendous win. There was no big unrestricted free agents available in 2017. Steph Curry and Blake Griffin were locked up quickly for supermax. Kevin Durant gave the Warriors a cupcake discount with 2 years $50 million. That left Gordon Hayward as one of the top remaining free agents along with more point guards in Jrue Holiday and Kyle Lowry. Hayward was the right choice and the right fit especially with his Butler University connection to coach Brad Stevens. However, tragedy struck in the opening minutes of the season when Hayward broke his foot and hasn't been the same ever since. Still, Hayward only has 2 more years on his contract and could easily be moved in 2020 as an expiring. Horford is a 33 year-old big man seeking a 4 year contract worth $100 million. He's been a solid contributor and leader for the Celtics, but will end up as a bad contract towards the end of his career. There is no reason to lock up that much cap space especially when Tatum and Brown are nearing their next contracts soon. in the grand scheme, you have to remember the hand Ainge started with: an near-retirement Kevin Garnett, an aging Paul Pierce, and a washed up Jason Terry. Ainge flipped those for... 2014 -- #17 -- James Young 2016 -- #3 -- Jaylen Brown 2017 -- #1 -- Markelle Fultz (traded to Philadelphia) 2017 -- #3 -- Jayson Tatum (from Philadelphia) 2018 -- #8 -- Collin Sexton (traded to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving) 2019 -- #14 -- Romeo Langford (from Philadelphia via Sacramento) So yeah, Ainge turned that deal into 4 lottery picks -- one of the greatest heists in professional sports. That's probably the best any GM could have ever done considering the hand he started with.
That didn't stop OKC for trading for him. Did he refuse, or did Ainge not put together a better package than Toronto on a potential rental? Yeah, but Davis is under contract and next year the Lakers wouldn't have the $$ to sign him, so.... Ainge had more assets than anyone else and refused to cash them in. The contrast is Toronto. They said we got a shot to win so let's take it. Even if Kawhi leaves they won. Ainge coulda easily beaten the packages for all of those players and still had plenty of assets left.
I completely agree that Ainge was brilliant for being able to acquire the assets he did given the hand he started with. It was a genius move (aided by Brooklyn and Philly's outright stupidity) that deserves to be applauded. But that is only half of the equation. Just like every single asset on this Earth, there is an expiration date on its appreciation, and by all accounts, he missed his date. There's very little point in hoarding all those picks if all he's going to end up with is 2 seasons of Kyrie, Jayson Tatum, and a chance at Kemba. Of all the stars that you pointed to that were saying, "LAKERS! LAKERS! LAKERS!", only ONE of them ACTUALLY ended up on the Lakers. That's EXACTLY why if you were Ainge, you should have taken your chances. Ask OKC and Toronto if they regret rolling the dice. Something tells me they don't.
OKC was a desperate franchise in need of a blockbuster all-or-nothing type move to keep Westbrook from bolting in free agency after Durant left them hanging dry. Thunder got what they wanted when Westbrook signed a long-term contract extension soon after that trade. Now, keeping George was just icing on the cake. Thunder were absolutely ready for him to leave for the Lakers, but somehow Westbrook convinced him to stay. Meanwhile, Celtics didn't have the same sense of urgency. Plus, the Pacers didn't want to trade George to a conference rival hence the minimal return they got from the Thunder. Yes, Oladipo is a bonafide all-star now, but at the time he was just a struggling lottery pick whom the Magic had given up on and had traded for Serge Ibaka. Demar DeRozan was a freaking 4x all-star when he was traded. I don't know what better package someone would offer for a "rental" on Kawhi Leonard. Celtics didn't have an all-star to trade and so their "rental package" would definitely have to include either Tatum or Brown -- again something Ainge is only willing to do if can get a long term commitment from the player he is trading for. Have you been following Rich Paul's shenanigans? He made it very clear that his client will only commit to the Lakers and then maybe the Clippers or the Knicks, which are complete throwaway destinations to make it seem like he's being reasonable. It was reiterated multiple times in the media by Rich Paul that his client doesn't consider Boston a preferred destination. I don't know how Ainge or anyone else would be willing to empty the cupboard for Anthony Davis after such strong statements by his agent. Toronto is a franchise that had never been to the Finals before. Meanwhile, Celtics own the most championship banners (17) in the league. The is no comparison between the two. Raptors saw the writing on the wall with the Lowry-DeRozan-Valanciunas combo and took a gamble with Kawhi and Gasol for one year of all-or-nothing glory. Celtics are trying to build another dynasty to keep score with the Lakers who are breathing down their neck with 16 titles of their own. Lastly, to fully answer your question and what many in this thread have asked; All the big names available these past few seasons like George, Kawhi, and Davis -- have all expressed the Lakers as their preferred destination in a trade over everyone else in the league. I think Ainge is very cautious and conservative for that particular reason. He doesn't want to be the guy who lost a superstar to the arch-rival Lakers in free agency after gutting the entire team and depleting it of talent and assets for a one-year rental. Celtics fanbase would never forgive him for that and it would perhaps even cost him his job. Therefore, regardless of what armchair GMs on this board and elsewhere might think of him, Ainge is simply happy to keep his job and continue to rebuild around the talented young core of Tatum, Brown, Rozier, Smart, Langford etc.
Good summary. And totally agreed on the Horford free agency...in two years or so, his contract could look as bad as CP3's.
LOL at Charlotte...they should’ve traded Kemba at the deadline they weren’t going anywhere with him...they couldn’t even make the 8th seed in the East, so a max deal or anything close would’ve been a stupid decision for them, and they should’ve known that from the jump now they might lose their best player for nothing