Thank you, Danny Ainge

lars10

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Are we sure about the bolded? If he retired today, does he have a better resume than Kevin Johnson or Tim Hardaway? Because neither of those guys are in. I get that KI is a better player than we want to give him credit for, but I'm still not sure he's hall-bound.

Anyway, I used the term HOFer too loosely in my post. My point is that guys like Curry and Isaiah Thomas 1.0 were top-25 all time players, and there's actually a big drop-off between that and the IT4, KI tier.


That's sort of my point, though: at the time they made the trade, it was a no-brainer, in part because they'd architected the team around getting a huge amount of offense from the PG position.
I think before the C’s KI was a sure fire HOFer.. and even in his first few years here. The last few years have tainted how great he was. Between his last years here when he was more talk than substance and his play on the court didn’t live up to his talk…and then sitting out due to not getting vaxxed.. then coming back to be below average in the playoffs.. it’s hard to remember that during some of those playoff runs he was close to the best player on the Cavs.
 

Euclis20

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I think before the C’s KI was a sure fire HOFer.. and even in his first few years here. The last few years have tainted how great he was. Between his last years here when he was more talk than substance and his play on the court didn’t live up to his talk…and then sitting out due to not getting vaxxed.. then coming back to be below average in the playoffs.. it’s hard to remember that during some of those playoff runs he was close to the best player on the Cavs.
When was that? He had some good games, but in all 3 of their playoff runs together Lebron had more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and was obviously miles ahead of him defensively. In those 3 postseasons, Kyrie averaged 24/3/5, while Lebron averaged 30/10/8. Kyrie made one all-NBA team before leaving Cleveland (3rd team in 2015) and has never received a vote for MVP. His game is aesthetically pleasing to watch and his role in the greatest comeback in finals history basically guarantees him a spot in the HOF, but let's be clear - without LeBron, he'd be a borderline case at best.
 

Zereck

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Are we sure about the bolded? If he retired today, does he have a better resume than Kevin Johnson or Tim Hardaway?
Tim Hardaway got elected and will be inducted later in this year. The bar isn’t very high for the Basketball HOF.
 

lars10

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When was that? He had some good games, but in all 3 of their playoff runs together Lebron had more points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, and was obviously miles ahead of him defensively. In those 3 postseasons, Kyrie averaged 24/3/5, while Lebron averaged 30/10/8. Kyrie made one all-NBA team before leaving Cleveland (3rd team in 2015) and has never received a vote for MVP. His game is aesthetically pleasing to watch and his role in the greatest comeback in finals history basically guarantees him a spot in the HOF, but let's be clear - without LeBron, he'd be a borderline case at best.
You’re right.. I was thinking of a few games when LeBron was hurt perhaps? There were def some games where Kyrie carried them.. at least that’s what my hazy memory recalls, but LeBron was always no.1 overall.
 

tbrown_01923

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Yeah - I tell my teams (software, so a bit different)
  1. do a reasonable amount of analysis
  2. make the best decision you can with the data you have
  3. hope to get lucky, because there is a lot out of your control
We get so caught up in outcomes, and that absolutely matters retrospectively, but (IMO) behaviors correlate to future positive outcomes more than historical outcomes. Get the behaviors right... and hope for luck.
 

nighthob

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If I’m recalling correctly the Bulls trade fell apart over Chicago’s insistence that they get Butler’s friend, Jae Crowder, on top of everything else. While Boston insisted that they had to hold on to Crowder to be a clubhouse buffer and a leg up in selling Butler on Boston long term.
 

moondog80

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Didn’t‘ Ainge once offer a bunch of future number one picks for the privilege of drafting Justice Winslow.
The legend goes that the Celtics, picking 16th, offered Charlotte a boatload to move up to 9th and pick WInslow. The Nets had gone 38-44 that year and were clearly in freefall with Pierce gone, KG soon to follow and Deron Williams a shell of the guy they traded for, so I find it implausible that they offered even one of the Nets picks, without protection, to move up 7 spots into the low lottery, and that Charlotte turned them down to pick Frank Kaminsky.

And worth noting that, sticking at 16, the Celtics picked Terry Rozier, who ended up being a much better player than either Winslow or Kaminsky. Ainge was on a serious heater.
 
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Euclis20

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The legend goes that the Celtics, picking 16th, offered Charlotte a boatload to move up to 9th and pick WInslow. The Nets had gone 38-44 that year and were clearly in freefall with Pierce gone, KG soon to follow and Deron Williams a shell of the guy they traded for, so I find it implausible that they offered even one of the Nets picks, without protection, to move up 7 spots into the low lottery, and that Charlotte turned them down to pick Frank Kaminsky.

And worth noting that, sticking at 16, the Celtics picked Terry Rozier, who ended up being a much better player than either Winslow or Kaminsky. Ainge was on a serious heater.
Olynyk at 13, Smart at 6, Rozier at 16, Brown at 3, Tatum at 3, Rob at 27, Grant at 22. That's 7 straight years with good to great value at different slots all around the 1st round, and every single one of them worthy of a playoff rotation spot. He won't get the recognition that he deserves nationally for this stretch because they didn't win a title (and at this point if they do win a title during the Tatum/Brown era, Ainge won't get any credit for it at all), but that is just an incredible stretch of picks.
 

luckiestman

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Olynyk at 13, Smart at 6, Rozier at 16, Brown at 3, Tatum at 3, Rob at 27, Grant at 22. That's 7 straight years with good to great value at different slots all around the 1st round, and every single one of them worthy of a playoff rotation spot. He won't get the recognition that he deserves nationally for this stretch because they didn't win a title (and at this point if they do win a title during the Tatum/Brown era, Ainge won't get any credit for it at all), but that is just an incredible stretch of picks.
I loved rooting for KO. The Freak thing takes a little lustre off the pick
 

Euclis20

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I loved rooting for KO. The Freak thing takes a little lustre off the pick
I see this all the time (here and elsewhere), and I really don't get it. It's not like Giannis was supposed to be a top 3 pick and he slid all the way out of the lottery, or that the Celtics were particularly dumb for passing. No one thought Giannis was going to be half the player he became, and Olynyk was better than all but a handful of guys taken in front of him (Oladipo, McCollum and Adams...maybe Porter and KCP, these were the only guys taken earlier that were better). Maybe given the current state of the Celtics (about to trade away Pierce/Garnett and rebuild) they should've been swinging for the fences rather than going the other way for solid singles, but KO was good enough to sign multiple big money deals after his rookie contract, and played real minutes in the playoffs for Boston and Miami. When the 13th overall pick has a career like that, I just can't get worked up over the fact that a [much] better player was picked shortly after.

Jokic was drafted 41st overall a year later. Does anyone ever ding the Celtics for picking Marcus Smart at 6 because Jokic was still on the board?
 

luckiestman

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I see this all the time (here and elsewhere),

Jokic was drafted 41st overall a year later. Does anyone ever ding the Celtics for picking Marcus Smart at 6 because Jokic was still on the board?
It’s not like Jokic. People wanted him for upside and he was picked near KO.
 

PedroKsBambino

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There's a set of fans who just complain after the fact---I don't really care about that crowd.

There's also people who may themselves have wanted Giannis for whom it is of continuing frustration the team didn't go for him. I raise Desmond Bane from time to time beause I was actually advocating for taking him around the draft and on draft night; that's not to say I know more than team (I of course do not) only that part of why I go back to him is there was advocacy for him. And I do recall there being people advocating for Giannis around here (and broadly) as an upside gamble...though to be clear I was not one of those who saw it coming with him at all. I do think that's different with Jokic as there was NO ONE, really anywhere, advocating for Jokic in 1st around. That's different.

I also agree with Euclis that objectively, KO is a very solid 13th pick and it's unreasonable to say it was a mistake given that. But I do understand why emotionally people, especially those who were personally advocating for Giannis at the time, are still doing so and making the point we could have had him.
 

luckiestman

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I also agree with Euclis that objectively, KO is a very solid 13th pick and it's unreasonable to say it was a mistake given that. But I do understand why emotionally people, especially those who were personally advocating for Giannis at the time, are still doing so and making the point we could have had him.

I do want to say that I’m a huge huge Danny fan, but when I see the KO pick (which is solid) it doesn’t blow me away like the Tatum and Brown picks, not because they are better players, but because what Danny did wasn’t the consensus move and he was very very right and the doubters were very very wrong. I follow draft narratives as I don’t watch non NBA basketball and I have no way of evaluating prospects.
 

Euclis20

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It’s not like Jokic. People wanted him for upside and he was picked near KO.
Smart wasn't really much of an upside pick, either. He's hit what, 95% of his ceiling, and has never come close to an all-star team? And has almost the same career earnings as noted safe pick KO?

If KO were the 11th pick and Giannis were the 20th pick, would people think any different about the Olynyk selection?

There's a set of fans who just complain after the fact---I don't really care about that crowd.

There's also people who may themselves have wanted Giannis for whom it is of continuing frustration the team didn't go for him. I raise Desmond Bane from time to time beause I was actually advocating for taking him around the draft and on draft night; that's not to say I know more than team (I of course do not) only that part of why I go back to him is there was advocacy for him. And I do recall there being people advocating for Giannis around here (and broadly) as an upside gamble...though to be clear I was not one of those who saw it coming with him at all. I do think that's different with Jokic as there was NO ONE, really anywhere, advocating for Jokic in 1st around. That's different.

I also agree with Euclis that objectively, KO is a very solid 13th pick and it's unreasonable to say it was a mistake given that. But I do understand why emotionally people, especially those who were personally advocating for Giannis at the time, are still doing so and making the point we could have had him.
I get all that, especially your last sentence. What is annoying is people still bringing up up a decade later, whenever there's any mention of KO being drafted. There are certainly draft picks worth complaining about for all eternity (Bowie over Jordan, Oden over Durant, Fultz over Tatum), but for so many reasons, this just ain't it. There were 13 other teams that passed on Giannis (and at least a dozen more could've traded up if they really wanted too), and you could argue that every single one of them made a worst choice than Ainge with the KO pick. Why are we (Boston fans) bringing up this particular issue every time Ainge's draft record is mentioned?
 

oumbi

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Smart wasn't really much of an upside pick, either. He's hit what, 95% of his ceiling, and has never come close to an all-star team? And has almost the same career earnings as noted safe pick KO?

If KO were the 11th pick and Giannis were the 20th pick, would people think any different about the Olynyk selection?



I get all that, especially your last sentence. What is annoying is people still bringing up up a decade later, whenever there's any mention of KO being drafted. There are certainly draft picks worth complaining about for all eternity (Bowie over Jordan, Oden over Durant, Fultz over Tatum), but for so many reasons, this just ain't it. There were 13 other teams that passed on Giannis (and at least a dozen more could've traded up if they really wanted too), and you could argue that every single one of them made a worst choice than Ainge with the KO pick. Why are we (Boston fans) bringing up this particular issue every time Ainge's draft record is mentioned?
This appears to be one of those questions that contains the answer to itself.
 

themuddychicken

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The reason why Giannis is relevant to the KO pick is that he was on the board and many Boston fans wanted him with the KO pick. No one wanted Jokic at the Smart pick.

Also, the Celtics were rebuilding and a high upside pick arguably made a lot more sense than a high floor, low ceiling player like Olynyk. I was following a draft thread that night and I wanted Giannis solely because he was the upside pick at that slot and the Cs were in a place where upside should have taken priority.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Danny is on the record that he doesn't regret the KO pick because who could have seen Giannis transform from what he was in the Greek league to what is he now?

His one biggest draft regret, IIRC, was Jimmy Butler.
 

Euclis20

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The reason why Giannis is relevant to the KO pick is that he was on the board and many Boston fans wanted him with the KO pick. No one wanted Jokic at the Smart pick.

Also, the Celtics were rebuilding and a high upside pick arguably made a lot more sense than a high floor, low ceiling player like Olynyk. I was following a draft thread that night and I wanted Giannis solely because he was the upside pick at that slot and the Cs were in a place where upside should have taken priority.
I just skimmed through a couple dozen mock drafts from 2023 (including two that had the Celtics picking him, nice work Bleacher report and Hoops Habit), and his average projected draft spot was in the early 20s. There were a few that had him in the mid teens, and I think I saw one that had him around 12, but for every mock that had him that high, there was one that didn't have him going in the 1st round at all. He was about as unknown a prospect as we've seen in the last 15 years (half of the mocks I saw had his name spelled wrong), and the highest level he'd played at was a 2nd tier league in Greece. If this were a situation where Boston had a top 5 pick and both Olynyk and Giannis were projected to go in the first half of the lottery, I'd get it, but neither guy was that level of prospect, and the pick wasn't THAT important, relatively speaking. I'm not dinging a team or GM for not drafting with a mid teens pick a guy projected to be around the 20th best player in a draft, especially when the guy they did select was a very solid B+ level player.
 
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Jimbodandy

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I just skimmed through a couple dozen mock drafts from 2023 (including two that had the Celtics picking him, nice work Bleacher report and Hoops Habit), and his average projected draft spot was in the early 20s. There were a few that had him in the mid teens, and I think I saw one that had him around 12, but for every mock that had him that high, there was one that didn't have him going in the 1st round at all. He was about as unknown a prospect as we've seen in the last 15 years (half of the mocks I saw had his name spelled wrong), and the highest level he'd played at was a 2nd tier league in Greece. If this were a situation where Boston had a top 5 pick and both Olynyk and Giannis were projected to go in the first half of the lottery, I'd get it, but neither guy was that level of prospect, and the pick wasn't THAT important, relatively speaking. I'm not dinging a team or GM for not drafting with a mid teens pick a guy projected to be around the 20th best player in a draft, especially when the guy they did select was a very solid B+ level player.
That was a rotten, terrible draft. Good on Milwaukee for taking a flier on him, but there just aren't a lot of dudes anywhere who can prove that they were all in on that kid. 14 cats who get paid to do this for a living took someone else, and there wasn't anyone who went above him like Jordan. There are enough of us and enough Boston fans that there was probably someone among the thousands weighing in that had his name down, but half of them were probably just psyched for an unknown because all of the "knowns" were jags. Oladipo, Adams, Gobert are basically the whole draft besides what we now know Giannis is.

Anyone who brings his name up in connection with Ainge's draft record listens to too much talk radio.
 

TripleOT

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Danny is on the record that he doesn't regret the KO pick because who could have seen Giannis transform from what he was in the Greek league to what is he now?

His one biggest draft regret, IIRC, was Jimmy Butler.
To me, the biggest Ainge draft regret should have been making a promise to JR Gideon’s with the last pick of the 2008 draft, instead of picking DeAndre Jordan. It isn’t to difficult to imagine at least one more banner with DJ added to KG and Perk
 

benhogan

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There's a set of fans who just complain after the fact---I don't really care about that crowd.

There's also people who may themselves have wanted Giannis for whom it is of continuing frustration the team didn't go for him. I raise Desmond Bane from time to time beause I was actually advocating for taking him around the draft and on draft night; that's not to say I know more than team (I of course do not) only that part of why I go back to him is there was advocacy for him. And I do recall there being people advocating for Giannis around here (and broadly) as an upside gamble...though to be clear I was not one of those who saw it coming with him at all. I do think that's different with Jokic as there was NO ONE, really anywhere, advocating for Jokic in 1st around. That's different.

I also agree with Euclis that objectively, KO is a very solid 13th pick and it's unreasonable to say it was a mistake given that. But I do understand why emotionally people, especially those who were personally advocating for Giannis at the time, are still doing so and making the point we could have had him.
This is fair.

Retaining Pritchard over Bane was probably Danny's worst draft work over the last decade since they were both high-floor players.
Nesmith, Bey, Bane were considered the best shooters in that draft, & they should have taken two bites of that apple.
 

BringBackMo

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There's a set of fans who just complain after the fact---I don't really care about that crowd.

There's also people who may themselves have wanted Giannis for whom it is of continuing frustration the team didn't go for him. I raise Desmond Bane from time to time beause I was actually advocating for taking him around the draft and on draft night; that's not to say I know more than team (I of course do not) only that part of why I go back to him is there was advocacy for him. And I do recall there being people advocating for Giannis around here (and broadly) as an upside gamble...though to be clear I was not one of those who saw it coming with him at all. I do think that's different with Jokic as there was NO ONE, really anywhere, advocating for Jokic in 1st around. That's different.

I also agree with Euclis that objectively, KO is a very solid 13th pick and it's unreasonable to say it was a mistake given that. But I do understand why emotionally people, especially those who were personally advocating for Giannis at the time, are still doing so and making the point we could have had him.
Great post. I think this really nails the emotional dynamics at play in how we recall these things.
 

Jimbodandy

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This is fair.

Retaining Pritchard over Bane was probably Danny's worst draft work over the last decade since they were both high-floor players.
Nesmith, Bey, Bane were considered the best shooters in that draft, & they should have taken two bites of that apple.
We're still talking about guys like DeAndre Jordan and Desmond Bane who went so low that everyone in the league missed on them. If guys like that are Ainge's draft regrets, that's one hell of record.
 

PedroKsBambino

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We're still talking about guys like DeAndre Jordan and Desmond Bane who went so low that everyone in the league missed on them. If guys like that are Ainge's draft regrets, that's one hell of record.
Yeah, the thing we have to remember is that nailing Smart, Jaylen, and Tatum in three straight top-6 picks is exceedingly rare and even more important. Miss on 10 straight low-mid 1st round picks and you're still above-average if you get those big ones so correct. Not all picks are remotely equal.
 

Auger34

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We're still talking about guys like DeAndre Jordan and Desmond Bane who went so low that everyone in the league missed on them. If guys like that are Ainge's draft regrets, that's one hell of record.
This is a great point. Missing on a late pick like JR Gliddens is par for the course. Late 1st rounders rarely work out.
It’s whiffing on the top 7 picks that really hurts…and Danny aced those picks
 

BigSoxFan

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To me, the biggest Ainge draft regret should have been making a promise to JR Gideon’s with the last pick of the 2008 draft, instead of picking DeAndre Jordan. It isn’t to difficult to imagine at least one more banner with DJ added to KG and Perk
Love Danny but I didn’t know about the Giddens promise and would have bet my mortgage on either Jordan or Chalmers being the pick. I wanted Jordan. He was raw but he had such great athleticism and the team needed that with KG’s aging and Perk moving like a sloth. They probably win 2010 title with Jordan. But after having success with Tony Allen, I can see why Danny tried to recreate that magic with Giddens.
 

benhogan

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We're still talking about guys like DeAndre Jordan and Desmond Bane who went so low that everyone in the league missed on them. If guys like that are Ainge's draft regrets, that's one hell of record.
Indeed. Last summer he gave a Masterclass on NBA rebuilding
 

TripleOT

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Yeah, the thing we have to remember is that nailing Smart, Jaylen, and Tatum in three straight top-6 picks is exceedingly rare and even more important. Miss on 10 straight low-mid 1st round picks and you're still above-average if you get those big ones so correct. Not all picks are remotely equal.
Nailing pick number three two drafts in a row is certainly not easy to do, and Ainge gets credit from me for it. However, if he did a better job drafting late in the first round for the KG Celtics, they’d have at least one more banner. If he made the obvious late pick of Bane, they probably have a banner from the last two seasons.
 

HomeRunBaker

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We're still talking about guys like DeAndre Jordan and Desmond Bane who went so low that everyone in the league missed on them. If guys like that are Ainge's draft regrets, that's one hell of record.
Not only that but we didn't retain Pritchard "over" Bane. Iirc, the first potential draftee that Ainge worked out....was Bane. He never brought him back a second time and we specifically drafted him FOR Memphis....never for ourselves. Whatever occurred in that workout wasn't super impressive to Ainge...this is an imperfect science.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Yeah, while I was a Bane guy it is pretty clear Celtics simply didn't believe in him and so he was not really even a candidate for that pick (at least, to stay wtih us!)

It's not like they have subsequently said "well, it was 50/50 and we want Kedrick Brown...." or anything. LIke HRB says, you are going to miss a lot in the evals even if you're really good at it relative to most.
 

lovegtm

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Not only that but we didn't retain Pritchard "over" Bane. Iirc, the first potential draftee that Ainge worked out....was Bane. He never brought him back a second time and we specifically drafted him FOR Memphis....never for ourselves. Whatever occurred in that workout wasn't super impressive to Ainge...this is an imperfect science.
Which also shows that Ainge was thinking about that pick slot on exactly the right lines: he wanted an older, already-developed shooter. He just didn't think Bane was it.
 

moondog80

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I mean, even Ted Williams only hit .344 for his career.

Ainge is up there with Theo Epstein and, depending on how you want to count him, Bill Belichick in the non-Red Auerbach division for greatest Boston sports executive.
 

nighthob

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Love Danny but I didn’t know about the Giddens promise and would have bet my mortgage on either Jordan or Chalmers being the pick. I wanted Jordan. He was raw but he had such great athleticism and the team needed that with KG’s aging and Perk moving like a sloth. They probably win 2010 title with Jordan. But after having success with Tony Allen, I can see why Danny tried to recreate that magic with Giddens.
In fairness they would have won in 2010 if they’d just ponied up 3/10 for Tony Allen.
 

BigSoxFan

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I mean, even Ted Williams only hit .344 for his career.

Ainge is up there with Theo Epstein and, depending on how you want to count him, Bill Belichick in the non-Red Auerbach division for greatest Boston sports executive.
Ainge is one of the most underappreciated Boston sports figures of my lifetime and it's why the 2010 Lakers loss gutted me so much because that group should have won another title. And then, he transitions from that aging group to a core that has been to 5 ECF and 1 NBA Finals. Ainge has been responsible for like 8 ECF appearances and some really bad luck (KG injury, Hayward injury, etc.) has prevented him from getting the accolades that he really deserves.
 

ManicCompression

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Not only that but we didn't retain Pritchard "over" Bane. Iirc, the first potential draftee that Ainge worked out....was Bane. He never brought him back a second time and we specifically drafted him FOR Memphis....never for ourselves. Whatever occurred in that workout wasn't super impressive to Ainge...this is an imperfect science.
Look, I love Ainge and think he's incredible at being a GM, for the Cs and Utah. We can still say this is a dodo decision. They're both shooting guards. One is not very strong, not very long, not very athletic, and 6'1" while the other is 6'5" and built like a rock with a half foot longer standing reach despite short arms. I have no idea what you could possibly see in a single workout that would make you think the former player is more likely to contribute to a playoff team than the latter, particularly when Bane shot over 43% from three and 80% from the line over a four year college career - it's not like there wasn't plenty of evidence that he was a really good shooter in college.

The floor and ceiling for Bane was higher, and that's not hindsight. If it was a 50/50 decision, then that's a massive miss from a talent evaluation standpoint especially because they play the same position. It just seems like Ainge got too clever by a half here, and it's perfectly logical to criticize him for it because there was a ton of different pathways for Bane to become a better player than Pritchard and comparatively few for Pritchard to surpass Bane. Imperfect science, yes, but sometimes shit is just really obvious at the time and looks worse with age because of it.
 

lexrageorge

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Didn't they staple the pick that became Bane to Enes Kanter's contract in order to duck the tax? That seems.... sub-optimal.
Yeah, it was a needless trade. They certainly could have found a taker for Kanter. But even the best GMs miss out on talent spotting sometimes.
 

moondog80

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But even the best GMs miss out on talent spotting sometimes.
Right. When we say that Babe Ruth was the best player ever, nobody links to box scores of games where he struck out 4 times.

The reason the Celtics only got two second round picks for Desmond Bane is that none of the other GMs -- presumably the best talent evaluators in the world -- felt compelled to offer anything more.
 
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bakahump

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- it's not like there wasn't plenty of evidence that he was a really good shooter in college.
.....just not good enough for every other GM to take him with an earlier pick several times over.
We really need to judge on peers, not on perfection.
SOMETHING wasnt as rosy as you paint to have him skipped over that many times by that many well educated and experienced people. Ainge agreed and thought it was enough not to pick him.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Yeah, it was a needless trade. They certainly could have found a taker for Kanter. But even the best GMs miss out on talent spotting sometimes.
Nobody has touched Kanter since then for free. Who would have taken his contract without at least a 2nd stapled to him?
 

ManicCompression

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.....just not good enough for every other GM to take him with an earlier pick several times over.
We really need to judge on peers, not on perfection.
SOMETHING wasnt as rosy as you paint to have him skipped over that many times by that many well educated and experienced people. Ainge agreed and thought it was enough not to pick him.
Not every team is looking for the same thing in a draft, especially in the 20s where you're looking for roster fits more than pure talent. I'm not going to say that a team picking before 20 should've been choosing Desmond Bane over whoever because that's just not reasonable - he wasn't thought of as a lottery or near lottery pick.

But teams after 20:

20: Miami - Precious Achiuwa - PF - Higher upside than Bane at the time
21: Philly - Tyrese Maxey - SG, but in hindsight (and even now) this pick makes sense
22: Denver - Zeke Nnaji - Center - Clearly prioritizing a backup Center with this pick
23: Minny - Leandro Balmaro - SF - Bad pick, but Minny had just spent the number one pick in the draft on Edwards - they weren't drafting another SG
24: Denver - RJ Hampton - SG - Doesn't look good now, but back then this made sense, as Hampton had higher upside over Bane
25: NYK - Immanuel Quickley - SG - Back then, this made sense - he was the higher upside player vs. Bane
25: Bos - Payton Pritchard - SG - Okay
27: Utah - Udoka Azabuike - Center - had Mitchell, clearly prioritizing a backup center with pick
28: Minny - Jaden McDaniels - SF/PF - See above; clearly looking for a long wing
29: Toronto - Malachi Flynn - PG - not the same skill set as Bane; TOR drafting for a distributor
30: Mem - Desmond Bane - SG

Over the course of ten picks where Bane could've reasonably been drafted, 5 shooting guards (including him) were taken. Maxey, Quickley made sense at the time and were good in hindsight. Hampton was a bad pick, but he was also a big time high school recruit, longer, and more athletic - you can at least understand the thought process behind taking RJ over him.

Pritchard sticks out like a sore thumb because they were both drafted for the same skill (shooting) but Pritchard does everything else worse than Bane. There was no upside with him like you could say with the others.

Like I said, Ainge is F'ing awesome, it doesn't mar his overall record here because yes, we all make mistakes... but we can say it was a dumbass pick and obviously so at the time.
 

mcpickl

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 23, 2007
4,546
Didn't they staple the pick that became Bane to Enes Kanter's contract in order to duck the tax? That seems.... sub-optimal.
Ainge also got two 2nd round picks in the deal, one of them was a coin flip to be the 33rd pick in this past draft.

Trading 30 for two second round picks and dumping Enes is good business.

It just looks awful because Memphis smashed the 30th pick out of the park.