As I sit here writing this article, I am mentally (and physically) preparing myself for the entire state of Massachusetts to demand that my scrotum gets strung up and prominently displayed atop the Benjamin Franklin Statue that sits just off of the Freedom Trail. But, hear me out, NBA (and particularly Boston) fans…Danny Ainge is one of the worst general managers in the NBA.
Why Danny Ainge is One of the Worst GMs in the NBA
It’s Not 2008 Anymore
Alright, shut up. I know all about the 2008 title and the Lakers’ loss in 2009 (Kendrick Perkins’ injury may have done them in that year), but guess what? Those two teams were assembled nearly 12 years ago at this point. The league today is a much different animal. In fact, since 2009, even with the arrival of superstar Jayson Tatum and the development of Jaylen Brown, what has Danny Ainge really done in his tenure as the Celtics GM? NADA. Think about it. The Celtics haven’t made the NBA Finals, they continuously shuffle through a roster of disappointments and continuously fail to make the “big move” every off-season that everybody has come to expect. So I ask you… Is Danny Ainge the one to blame?
Okay, we all remember when Ainge made the move for Garnett. Then, a few years later, he shuffled the deck and sent his entire aging Hall of Fame Celtics team to the Brooklyn Nets for a bunch of draft picks in what is highly considered one of the league’s WORST trades ever. Those picks have resulted in some diamonds – mainly with Jayson Tatum and Brown. But the majority of these picks have been spent on memorable studs like Ante Žižić, Semi Ojeleye, and… Robert Williams.
The Celtics After the Trade with the Brooklyn Nets
Since the KG, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo departure, the Celtics have not reached the NBA finals, no matter how many people pencil them in as Eastern Conference Champions every season. It’s becoming a tradition that once the end of the season rolls around, Celtics fans and critics alike are left wondering where it all went wrong. I myself am guilty of this, and I have put many a mighty dollar on this squad to reach the finals two years in a row only to have been left with disappointing results. My gut reaction has always been to blame the revolving door of point guards, starting with Isaiah Thomas, then Kyrie Irving, and most recently, Kemba Walker. But ultimately I truly am starting to believe that we can blame the majority of the Celtics’ shortcomings on Mr. Ainge himself.
For the record? I love Danny Ainge. Always have. Especially when he was on my Phoenix Suns in the ‘90s. He was a scrappy, two-sport stud from the ‘80s who fought everybody from Tree Rollins to Joe Dumars to nearly throwing hands with Michael Jordan himself. I even have a Danny Ainge rookie card. His BASEBALL rookie card, okay? His never-back-down stubborn style of play made him a true Boston Celtics legend. But, as old school as his playing style was in the rough and tumble years of the 1980s-1990s NBA, his game may have negatively affected his ability to grow and develop a team in today’s win-everything-now NBA.
I truly believe Danny Ainge is afraid to make the big trade to better his team.
Where are the Blue-Chip Free Agents?
You know who’s NOT afraid of the big trade? The Lakers, who dealt their entire team to acquire Anthony Davis and waltz to a title last year. I know it seems like a great deal now, but MANY Lakers fans could not believe how easily these guys let two #2 draft picks go for a guy who was coming off of an injury who happened to have a unibrow.
To quote fans in my hometown – “Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball? NO! They were the FUTURE! Los Angeles was supposed to be Lonzo’s town!”
Uhh, no. Sorry. Lonzo Ball will never participate in a Figueroa Boulevard parade.
The Clippers and Nets Have Taken Chances and Seen Results
Speaking of Figueroa Boulevard parades, the Los Angeles Clippers, who have rotated more players through their doorways than a Kardashian birthday party, also went all-in during Summer 2019 – losing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and every draft pick imaginable to wind up scoring Kawhi and Paul George. (It’s not quite yet proven to be what it could be, but the potential is still there…) And, most recently, the Brooklyn Nets – who were not afraid to part with terrific role players and picks to land James Harden, one of the best scorers the game has ever seen.
So, where was Danny Ainge when these superstars were looking to join teams who have come close to the chip but haven’t closed the deal? Exactly. Ainge’s approach is too OLD SCHOOL. He builds slowly, like they did in the ‘80s – not immediately like the world operates today. Tatum/Brown is forever impressive. But Jaylen Brown needs to be considered a trade piece if Tatum will ever get himself a ring. OR, Tatum will leave himself, thus disappointing millions of Celtics fans who were convinced that this kid was going to anchor the new BOSTON DYNASTY.
For the record, nothing is harder than admitting that your star player doesn’t quite have the supporting cast to turn your team into the dynasty that was expected with his potential. In today’s NBA, the best game plan is to hopefully draft a superstar, sign a big free agent, and develop young talent to trade for piece number three. The Lakers, Nets, and Clippers all did this. SO – WHY HASN’T AINGE DONE THIS?
The Failed Kyrie Experiment
Okay, I will say when he traded Isaiah Thomas for Kyrie and landed Gordon Hayward in free agency, things were looking up. It’s definitely not his fault that injuries derailed the long-term plans (Hayward’s being the worst). So I’ll applaud him for that effort, but Kyrie was off his rocker from the moment he arrived in Boston. He wanted to be the alpha dog after winning it all with LeBron but wasn’t aware that he did not have enough to carry an entire team. Once he realized that he was the third option, he practically gave up.
Again – is this Danny Ainge’s fault? At this point, we didn’t know. So then, aging All-Star Al Horford entered the fray alongside Tatum and Brown as Kyrie looked to bounce back and reclaim his crown as the most talented PG in the biz. Things were looking okay for a while, but then, another Kyrie injury ended this run.
I’m not saying Ainge is at fault for Kyrie being (somewhat) human, but I will say that once the New York Post started splashing “Kyrie and KD to the Knicks” headlines that following summer, Danny Ainge did nothing to try and keep Uncle Drew on the parquet floor that season. He did not try to work a superstar trade still thinking that Tatum would be enough to “build” off of with young stars and free-agent acquisitions. But Hayward still needed a year to get his feet beneath him and it certainly wasn’t his best season.
Kyrie Irving Heads to Brooklyn… and Kevin Durant Follows
However, the entire basketball community knew that Kyrie was going somewhere else. Potential teams included the Clippers, the Lakers, and of course, the Knicks. Rumors swirled all off-season before Kyrie decided to quote one-time Nets owner Jay-Z and say…
“Hello Brooklyn, how ya do?” And then Kevin Durant followed him up with, “How ya doin? Can I come too?”
Unfortunately, even before that, the Celtics’ reign in the East had been upended by the Raptors, who had recently been blasted for dropping Toronto’s favorite son DeMar Derozan for Kawhi Leonard - (YES another big move that worked), and the Milwaukee Bucks who suddenly found a once-in-a-lifetime Video Game superstar in Giannis Antetokounmpo. (Until they make the big move to acquire a third piece to the Giannis-Middleton puzzle we could possibly see them reach the Finals but come up short.) So, suddenly, the Celtics Eastern Conference dominance had come to a halt.
The Philadelphia 76ers
Perhaps the only NBA teams that seem to have paralleled Boston’s strategies are the Philadelphia 76ers, who have “trusted the process” long enough to currently find themselves in first place in the East. (Until, of course the Kyrie/KD/Harden Nets really start to focus and hit the gas pedal) and the Miami Heat. (Even though “Bubble Heat” is proving to not be way different than CURRENT Heat).
But back to the Sixers for a second. As great as Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons are, their biggest off-season moves have involved adding Seth Curry, Tobias Harris, and one-time Celtics draft pick and defensive wizard Matisse Thybulle. Which means, I don’t see the 76ers doing anything either until they add a Harden-like third piece HOFer to their cracked Liberty Bell of a team.
Ainge’s Big 3…of GM Mistakes
Like a bowl of New England Clam Chowder – that’s a lot of stuff to digest. So – since Danny Ainge was once a professional baseball player, I’ll put his foibles into the terms of America’s pastime:
STRIKE ONE
Losing Kyrie Irving. Ainge should have adhered to the one guy on his team with a championship ring to build his team around. Instead, he kept it old school and assumed the core group would build around a few stars and add pieces like the 1980s Celtics did.
STRIKE TWO
Missing out on Anthony Davis, James Harden, et al. After Kyrie moved on, Ainge needed to either make a massive deal (Yes, I’m talking about a player like Jaylen Brown) to try and get Anthony Davis, who was everybody’s next prize off-season acquisition – or find an upgrade at point guard. Terry Rozier was good enough to be a back-up, but will never take a team to a title as a floor general. The Lakers struck like cobras. The Celtics cowered like gophers.
STRIKE THREE
Not taking advantage of the $30 million post-Gordon Hayward trade exception. Look - it’s a salary cap detail, but essentially the C’s had ONE YEAR to trade for a player who makes $28.5 million or less without having to MATCH SALARIES or SEND BACK ANY OTHER PLAYERS. WHAAATT!!?? YES – The Celtics could have traded for any player for one year and made a run. I’m talking - any available player. In this scenario, we were talking about available ballers like P.J. Tucker, Aaron Gordon, and even a guy like Harrison Barnes. For like, FREE. A player like this might add that blood they needed to make this team something they weren’t expecting.
Where you at, Danny Ainge?
My Final Thoughts on Danny Aige
Obviously, I do not have the answer here. But I do know that Danny Ainge’s old school tactics have failed him recently. It’s time for this guy to prove that he knows what it will take in Boston to make the Celtics champions again. And he is at an advantage with Tatum still running his team… for now. So, it remains to be seen if he will exercise the abilities that the world has come to love and respect when they Google “Danny Ainge Fights Anybody” into YouTube. Can the C’s be an NBA Finals-ready team with the same heart as the championship teams he played on back in the day?
In my opinion, no. Until Danny Ainge is willing to pull the trigger and make that big move, he will most likely be looked upon as a GM who somewhat resembled his baseball career: Respectable and impressive at the beginning… but full of lost opportunities at the end.
Or he could make one last move that proves his worth beyond being known as “some old dude who almost fought Michael Jordan…”
