Why Stephen A. Smith Believes Brad Stevens Should Be On Hot Seat

Why Stephen A. Smith Believes Brad Stevens Should Be On Hot Seat

Is it time for a new voice?'


NESN by Adam London


Stephen A. Smith does not believe the Boston Celtics should move on from Brad Stevens over the offseason.

But in wake of how the 2020-21 campaign has transpired for the C’s to date, Smith believes it’s time for the organization to start evaluating the future of its head coaching position.

Smith and “First Take” co-host Max Kellerman on Monday were asked if Stevens, who’s in the midst of his eighth season with Boston, should be on the hot seat. While Kellerman doesn’t believe Stevens’ seat should start heating up, the nature of the beast that is the NBA makes Smith think otherwise.

“He should be on the hot seat,” Smith said on ESPN. “I am not advocating that he should be fired. When you have his résumé, you definitely should keep your job. I’m very fond of Brad Stevens. I like him a lot. I think he’s a damn good coach in terms of knowing what he’s doing. But I’m tired of having to explain this to people: Coaches and organizations make decisions every day, every month, every year about players. Sometimes it’s not just about your ability, it’s about whether or not your time is up. Is it time for a new voice? When it comes to coaches, there is absolutely, positively nothing wrong with asking that question.”


Smith continued: “The two stars of your team are a 24-year-old by the name of Jaylen Brown and a 22-year-old by the name of Jayson Tatum. On the sports talk in Boston and in the papers and in the tabloids and beyond, they are talking about how these guys sort of tuned him out. Now, in fairness to Brad Stevens, I interviewed Jayson Tatum. Jayson Tatum said on ‘Stephen A.’s World’ on ESPN+, ‘No, that’s not true.’ OK? So, I want to make sure we’re fair to Brad Stevens in that. But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with us looking at them and saying, wait a minute, with two stars like that, you’re supposed to be better than a .500 squad regardless of what’s transpired with Marcus Smart or Kemba Walker or whatever.

“As we’ve watched this team periodically throughout this year, they have been on a roller coaster. We don’t know what’s wrong with them a lot of times. They seem to be tuning him out. There was times when they said we might need a new voice. When you have that going on and you’re getting ready to get bounced out — in all likelihood — in the play-in game, I’m sorry, you deserve to be on the hot seat. He doesn’t deserve to lose his job, but we need to look at him and say, ‘Wait a minute, we need to keep an eye on this ’cause it doesn’t seem right.’ “


Smith probably is right, as this isn’t the first season the C’s have noticeably underperformed on Stevens’ watch. Boston had one of the most talented teams in basketball in the 2018-19 campaign and didn’t even make it out of the second round of the playoffs.



Like Smith said, it would be a rash decision for the Celtics to cut ties with Stevens after this season. But head coaches often are the sacrificial lambs when a franchise is looking for a jolt, so Danny Ainge and Co. might have to give the matter a hard look if similar issues surface next season.

112288

I am not always in agreement with Smith. I think many times he enjoys the hyperbole he spews, but he also has good insight into what is happening in the NBA

I think it is a fair article and view by Smith on Stevens position.

112288

112288 wrote:I am not always in agreement with Smith.  I think many times he enjoys the hyperbole he spews, but he also has good insight into what is happening in the NBA

I think it is a fair article and view by Smith on Stevens position.

112288

+1 absolutely

How can he not be evaluated along with the training/medical staff and Ainge himself. We already went thru Yabusele, had Semi and you draft GWill, passing on Gafford who leads the league in blocks per 36/min and is only in his 2nd year?

Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

Steven A just called out Gordon Hayward

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt

If the Celtics decide to go in another direction with a new head of basketball operations then the new guy is very likely to want to hire a new coach.  If Ainge goes so does Brad.  That is just the way things work.

Ainge has a lot of work to do to fix the configuration of this roster and in many respects his hands are tied due to CAP considerations.  I hate to keep harping on this theme but the contract for Kemba Walker greatly limits other moves that he could make.  We are going to find out pretty soon if the Owners are willing to pay the dreaded tax to keep guys like Fournier.   That is a big gamble because there is no clear cut indication that a healthier roster will get this team back.  The health issues may be a get out of jail free card for this year but next season there will be no such option.  

I do not know with absolute certainty that Brad's voice falls on death ears but I have seen similar things happen where a team has a good coach who is no longer able to get his team to play the right way.  If we where seeing the team decline offensively that is one thing but a defensive decline is more significant.  Getting guys to play defense is difficult because guys do not like to play defense.  If Brad wants to keep his job he may need to hire a defensive coach.  I really do not think this team will play a high level of defense ever again as long as Brad is the mouthpiece begging for his guys to play a certain style.

I would think will be begin to see the pieces fall into place from ownership/management moves pretty quickly after the season ends if it's going to go nuclear.  

If time evolves after we bow out of playoffs with no definitive actions, then we'll just be tweaking things and everybody still has a chair.  

Regardless, it will be interesting what is about to unfold in Boston in the coming weeks and months before the balls start bouncing for 2021-2022.

db

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt,

I agree.  This was a weird season.  COVID, injuries all made it hard.  Furthermore, in the case of Brad, he took us to the EC Finals in 3 of the last 4 years (3 out of the last 5 if we don't make it this year).  That's not bad.  Our record this season sucks, obviously, but it hasn't been easy.  Once again, I'll repeat this for the record, our top 7 players have never played one minute together this whole season.  Expecting us to have a great season record with a roster availability like that is asking a bit much, in my opinion.

Danny, on the other hand, is something else.  The reason why Brad's bench sucks is because of Danny's strategy of hoarding draft picks to pull off another KG-type deal and that fell through because the picks weren't as good as Danny thought they'd be and now we own a kindergarten.  Sacramento rallied and we only got a 14 pick, who turned out to be Romeo Langford, for trade bait.  #14 is not that enticing.  Same thing with the Memphis pick that turned out to be Aaron Nesmith.  Nesmith's coming along but if Memphis had sucked like everybody thought they were going to it would have been a high lottery pick, which would have brought tremendous value to the team or a very enticing trade offer.  Two questions beg to be answered, then.  First, was Danny being reasonable when he projected those two teams to be really bad and, as a result, give him a highly desirable draft pick to dangle?  Well, you never can go too far wrong predicting the Sacramento Kings to suck.  In the case of Memphis they blew their team up by trading away Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.  Didn't you expect them to suck too?  Weren't we all drooling in anticipation of their record being SO bad that pick would get pushed back for another year with even less protection?  Secondly, did Danny do the right thing by using those picks instead of trading them away for veterans (or subsequent year first rounders)?  This is all 20/20 hindsight, of course, but it will tell us whether it was poor judgment by Danny, and therefore his fault, or if they were good bets that just didn't pan out.  This is not a precise science we're dealing with here.

What's making this harder to analyze is that Romeo can't get on the court because of what appear to be one-off injuries, and Nesmith's just a rook.  If Romeo can stay healthy and turns into Kelly Oubre, then Danny looks like he's just a freak injury or two away from being a genius since he got Romeo from fleecing Philly in the Fultz/Tatum trade, and if Nesmith turns into Terrence Ross except with better defense and rebounding then he's a genius again because we got Nesmith for Jeff Green.  Hell, if Aaron Nesmith turns into anything even remotely consistent that's an upgrade over Jeff Green.

Where I fault Danny is for using his lower picks on Grant Williams and for getting overeager and signing Carsen Edwards to a guaranteed multi-year contract.  I'm not as down on Grant as some on this board but I'd be just as happy if Danny had traded Grant's pick up and out of the draft and resigned Semi, if we felt we needed a player like that, rather than using the pick on Grant.  #22 picks are usually rotation players, at best.  As I have said in another post Grant Williams was an All-American and the first player since Corliss Williamson to be 2X SEC POY.  I can sorta understand why Danny thought he was worth a roll of the dice.  Carsen Edwards was a mistake.  Period.  He had an amazing summer league and has done nothing since.  Is he expensive?  No, but he consumes a roster spot, a spot that could have been filled with a veteran that could help us now.  Danny traded Javonte Green to free up a roster spot.  Now that Jaylen's down wouldn't it be nice to still have him here?  Couldn't happen because Carsen consumes a roster spot.  We were too young already, it was a mistake for Danny to lock us into that youth with the Edwards contract, but should Carsen Edwards be a firing mistake? Should making a mistake on the contract of the #14 or #15 player on the roster be a firing mistake? 

Another area where Danny got a little ahead of himself, and we have really paid for it, was with Kemba.  We lost Kyrie, were about to lose Rozier and Danny jumped on Kemba.  An awful contract which has hamstrung us and will continue to hamstring us for as long as he is here.  Could/should Danny have known about Kemba's knee?

There will be, and are, people who fault Danny for losing Kyrie and Hayward for nothing.  BOTH of those players were fully on-board with being a Celtic right up through the trade deadline, so trading them for something would have required Danny to read their minds, since they weren't saying anything worrisome at the time.  Should Danny have taken the Myles Turner deal instead of the TPE?  Hmm.  Tough one.  If Evan Fournier resigns that question gets even harder to answer because Fournier is good value even compared to Turner and, with about $11M in TPE left, how Danny applies that will finish that.  Fournier plus a good player not yet identified for Hayward?  Considering that Hayward has himself said that he didn't make up his mind whether to leave or not until the morning he actually made the decision we're asking Danny and Brad to read minds.  Gordon was always a good locker room presence, he was never a malcontent, always a good soldier.  You never heard so much as a peep out of Gordon Hayward.  So what would have been the give-away?


Bob


.

dbrown4 wrote:I would think will be begin to see the pieces fall into place from ownership/management moves pretty quickly after the season ends if it's going to go nuclear.  

If time evolves after we bow out of playoffs with no definitive actions, then we'll just be tweaking things and everybody still has a chair.  

Regardless, it will be interesting what is about to unfold in Boston in the coming weeks and months before the balls start bouncing for 2021-2022.

db

The big FA is Fournier. That will be the big decision. Moving a few low level guys is a tweak or two. We will find out soon enough.

"Well, you never can go too far wrong predicting the Sacramento Kings to suck."
- BobH

This one gave me a reason to smile.

You know how we've been reminding people that most of what we write here is just opinion?

That line is among the exceptions. Pure fact.

Thoughtful post overall, but I really liked that line.

Stephen A. is perfect for the job he has and he's working for the perfect company.  He is and always will be the "E" in ESPN.  

db

This whole Stevens debate seems pointless. Of the eight players that will presumably be in the playoff rotation, four (TT, EF, PP, and AN) have never been trough a single Stevens training camp. Of the other four, KW and RW, have been injured or restricted much of the last two years. JT, TT, and EF have been fighting off the after effects of Covid. And with the shortened and compressed season there has been far less practice time. Of the rotation eight, if memory serves, AN is the only player who has been available all 72 games. And now core player JB is out. So how many games will the starters tonight have started together before? I've never coached a sports team but my sense is that in game coaching is a small part of the job, and it's even less effective if the players haven't gotten a thorough indoctrination in what it is you are preaching. These last two seasons, with injuries, trades, Covid, and insane schedules, evaluation of a coach impossible. This argument can be resumed next season if there is some return to normalcy.

First things first, I could care less what Stephen A Smith has to say. He is a mouthpiece, looking to create something that just isn't there. This is not the first time he has gone after the Celtics, but I really just ignore him for the most part.

And, to add to the Sacramento quip, I just read that Walton is keeping his job! And so isn't Stevens.

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt,

I agree.  This was a weird season.  COVID, injuries all made it hard.  Furthermore, in the case of Brad, he took us to the EC Finals in 3 of the last 4 years (3 out of the last 5 if we don't make it this year).  That's not bad.  Our record this season sucks, obviously, but it hasn't been easy.  Once again, I'll repeat this for the record, our top 7 players have never played one minute together this whole season.  Expecting us to have a great season record with a roster availability like that is asking a bit much, in my opinion.

Danny, on the other hand, is something else.  The reason why Brad's bench sucks is because of Danny's strategy of hoarding draft picks to pull off another KG-type deal and that fell through because the picks weren't as good as Danny thought they'd be and now we own a kindergarten.  Sacramento rallied and we only got a 14 pick, who turned out to be Romeo Langford, for trade bait.  #14 is not that enticing.  Same thing with the Memphis pick that turned out to be Aaron Nesmith.  Nesmith's coming along but if Memphis had sucked like everybody thought they were going to it would have been a high lottery pick, which would have brought tremendous value to the team or a very enticing trade offer.  Two questions beg to be answered, then.  First, was Danny being reasonable when he projected those two teams to be really bad and, as a result, give him a highly desirable draft pick to dangle?  Well, you never can go too far wrong predicting the Sacramento Kings to suck.  In the case of Memphis they blew their team up by trading away Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.  Didn't you expect them to suck too?  Weren't we all drooling in anticipation of their record being SO bad that pick would get pushed back for another year with even less protection?  Secondly, did Danny do the right thing by using those picks instead of trading them away for veterans (or subsequent year first rounders)?  This is all 20/20 hindsight, of course, but it will tell us whether it was poor judgment by Danny, and therefore his fault, or if they were good bets that just didn't pan out.  This is not a precise science we're dealing with here.

What's making this harder to analyze is that Romeo can't get on the court because of what appear to be one-off injuries, and Nesmith's just a rook.  If Romeo can stay healthy and turns into Kelly Oubre, then Danny looks like he's just a freak injury or two away from being a genius since he got Romeo from fleecing Philly in the Fultz/Tatum trade, and if Nesmith turns into Terrence Ross except with better defense and rebounding then he's a genius again because we got Nesmith for Jeff Green.  Hell, if Aaron Nesmith turns into anything even remotely consistent that's an upgrade over Jeff Green.

Where I fault Danny is for using his lower picks on Grant Williams and for getting overeager and signing Carsen Edwards to a guaranteed multi-year contract.  I'm not as down on Grant as some on this board but I'd be just as happy if Danny had traded Grant's pick up and out of the draft and resigned Semi, if we felt we needed a player like that, rather than using the pick on Grant.  #22 picks are usually rotation players, at best.  As I have said in another post Grant Williams was an All-American and the first player since Corliss Williamson to be 2X SEC POY.  I can sorta understand why Danny thought he was worth a roll of the dice.  Carsen Edwards was a mistake.  Period.  He had an amazing summer league and has done nothing since.  Is he expensive?  No, but he consumes a roster spot, a spot that could have been filled with a veteran that could help us now.  Danny traded Javonte Green to free up a roster spot.  Now that Jaylen's down wouldn't it be nice to still have him here?  Couldn't happen because Carsen consumes a roster spot.  We were too young already, it was a mistake for Danny to lock us into that youth with the Edwards contract, but should Carsen Edwards be a firing mistake? Should making a mistake on the contract of the #14 or #15 player on the roster be a firing mistake? 

Another area where Danny got a little ahead of himself, and we have really paid for it, was with Kemba.  We lost Kyrie, were about to lose Rozier and Danny jumped on Kemba.  An awful contract which has hamstrung us and will continue to hamstring us for as long as he is here.  Could/should Danny have known about Kemba's knee?

There will be, and are, people who fault Danny for losing Kyrie and Hayward for nothing.  BOTH of those players were fully on-board with being a Celtic right up through the trade deadline, so trading them for something would have required Danny to read their minds, since they weren't saying anything worrisome at the time.  Should Danny have taken the Myles Turner deal instead of the TPE?  Hmm.  Tough one.  If Evan Fournier resigns that question gets even harder to answer because Fournier is good value even compared to Turner and, with about $11M in TPE left, how Danny applies that will finish that.  Fournier plus a good player not yet identified for Hayward?  Considering that Hayward has himself said that he didn't make up his mind whether to leave or not until the morning he actually made the decision we're asking Danny and Brad to read minds.  Gordon was always a good locker room presence, he was never a malcontent, always a good soldier.  You never heard so much as a peep out of Gordon Hayward.  So what would have been the give-away?


Bob


.

Bob H, You blame Danny Ray for most of this mess and I’m in total agreement. But how you’ve managed to conflate Aaron Nesmith with Jeff Green i’ll never figure. I guess its similar to Danny conflating Grant Williams with Corliss Williamson. Romeo turning into Kelly Oubre turns Danny Ray into a genius? I was riding shotgun with ya until.....
You then go on to make excuses for his Danny’s miscues and F/ups. I mean how was Danny supposed to know that Kyrie and Hayward were going to leave? I mean they did not have a puss on their face and say they wanted to leave so how is one to know? He’s the GD GM, he is supposed to have a handle on what’s going on with his team. No, Danny Ray is not a mind reader, he’s just runs the Boston Celtics thats all. One does not have to tell one that he is about to ghost before he disappears. Find another excuse because even Danny wouldn’t own up to that kind of incompetency. Do you actually believe that Hayward didn’t make up his mind until first light that morning and Danny nor Brad had zero inkling what was about to go down?
Cmon Bob, do you really believe that?
I could be totally wrong and you could be spot on. Let’s hope for both our sake that you are wrong because if you’re right, we have some awful dumb people running our beloved and we are in for some really really bad times ahead.

Ktron wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt,

I agree.  This was a weird season.  COVID, injuries all made it hard.  Furthermore, in the case of Brad, he took us to the EC Finals in 3 of the last 4 years (3 out of the last 5 if we don't make it this year).  That's not bad.  Our record this season sucks, obviously, but it hasn't been easy.  Once again, I'll repeat this for the record, our top 7 players have never played one minute together this whole season.  Expecting us to have a great season record with a roster availability like that is asking a bit much, in my opinion.

Danny, on the other hand, is something else.  The reason why Brad's bench sucks is because of Danny's strategy of hoarding draft picks to pull off another KG-type deal and that fell through because the picks weren't as good as Danny thought they'd be and now we own a kindergarten.  Sacramento rallied and we only got a 14 pick, who turned out to be Romeo Langford, for trade bait.  #14 is not that enticing.  Same thing with the Memphis pick that turned out to be Aaron Nesmith.  Nesmith's coming along but if Memphis had sucked like everybody thought they were going to it would have been a high lottery pick, which would have brought tremendous value to the team or a very enticing trade offer.  Two questions beg to be answered, then.  First, was Danny being reasonable when he projected those two teams to be really bad and, as a result, give him a highly desirable draft pick to dangle?  Well, you never can go too far wrong predicting the Sacramento Kings to suck.  In the case of Memphis they blew their team up by trading away Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.  Didn't you expect them to suck too?  Weren't we all drooling in anticipation of their record being SO bad that pick would get pushed back for another year with even less protection?  Secondly, did Danny do the right thing by using those picks instead of trading them away for veterans (or subsequent year first rounders)?  This is all 20/20 hindsight, of course, but it will tell us whether it was poor judgment by Danny, and therefore his fault, or if they were good bets that just didn't pan out.  This is not a precise science we're dealing with here.

What's making this harder to analyze is that Romeo can't get on the court because of what appear to be one-off injuries, and Nesmith's just a rook.  If Romeo can stay healthy and turns into Kelly Oubre, then Danny looks like he's just a freak injury or two away from being a genius since he got Romeo from fleecing Philly in the Fultz/Tatum trade, and if Nesmith turns into Terrence Ross except with better defense and rebounding then he's a genius again because we got Nesmith for Jeff Green.  Hell, if Aaron Nesmith turns into anything even remotely consistent that's an upgrade over Jeff Green.

Where I fault Danny is for using his lower picks on Grant Williams and for getting overeager and signing Carsen Edwards to a guaranteed multi-year contract.  I'm not as down on Grant as some on this board but I'd be just as happy if Danny had traded Grant's pick up and out of the draft and resigned Semi, if we felt we needed a player like that, rather than using the pick on Grant.  #22 picks are usually rotation players, at best.  As I have said in another post Grant Williams was an All-American and the first player since Corliss Williamson to be 2X SEC POY.  I can sorta understand why Danny thought he was worth a roll of the dice.  Carsen Edwards was a mistake.  Period.  He had an amazing summer league and has done nothing since.  Is he expensive?  No, but he consumes a roster spot, a spot that could have been filled with a veteran that could help us now.  Danny traded Javonte Green to free up a roster spot.  Now that Jaylen's down wouldn't it be nice to still have him here?  Couldn't happen because Carsen consumes a roster spot.  We were too young already, it was a mistake for Danny to lock us into that youth with the Edwards contract, but should Carsen Edwards be a firing mistake? Should making a mistake on the contract of the #14 or #15 player on the roster be a firing mistake? 

Another area where Danny got a little ahead of himself, and we have really paid for it, was with Kemba.  We lost Kyrie, were about to lose Rozier and Danny jumped on Kemba.  An awful contract which has hamstrung us and will continue to hamstring us for as long as he is here.  Could/should Danny have known about Kemba's knee?

There will be, and are, people who fault Danny for losing Kyrie and Hayward for nothing.  BOTH of those players were fully on-board with being a Celtic right up through the trade deadline, so trading them for something would have required Danny to read their minds, since they weren't saying anything worrisome at the time.  Should Danny have taken the Myles Turner deal instead of the TPE?  Hmm.  Tough one.  If Evan Fournier resigns that question gets even harder to answer because Fournier is good value even compared to Turner and, with about $11M in TPE left, how Danny applies that will finish that.  Fournier plus a good player not yet identified for Hayward?  Considering that Hayward has himself said that he didn't make up his mind whether to leave or not until the morning he actually made the decision we're asking Danny and Brad to read minds.  Gordon was always a good locker room presence, he was never a malcontent, always a good soldier.  You never heard so much as a peep out of Gordon Hayward.  So what would have been the give-away?


Bob


.

Bob H, You blame Danny Ray for most of this mess and I’m in total agreement. But how you’ve managed to conflate Aaron Nesmith with Jeff Green i’ll never figure. I guess its similar to Danny conflating Grant Williams with Corliss Williamson. Romeo turning into Kelly Oubre turns Danny Ray into a genius? I was riding shotgun with ya until.....
You then go on to make excuses for his Danny’s miscues and F/ups. I mean how was Danny supposed to know that Kyrie and Hayward were going to leave? I mean they did not have a puss on their face and say they wanted to leave so how is one to know? He’s the GD GM, he is supposed to have a handle on what’s going on with his team. No, Danny Ray is not a mind reader, he’s just runs the Boston Celtics thats all. One does not have to tell one that he is about to ghost before he disappears. Find another excuse because even Danny wouldn’t own up to that kind of incompetency. Do you actually believe that Hayward didn’t make up his mind until first light that morning and Danny nor Brad had zero inkling what was about to go down?
Cmon Bob, do you really believe that?
I could be totally wrong and you could be spot on. Let’s hope for both our sake that you are wrong because if you’re right, we have some awful dumb people running our beloved and we are in for some really really bad times ahead.

ktron,

1. The draft pick we got for Jeff Green turned into Aaron Nesmith. A pretty solid quid pro quo.
2. Grant Williams had the same credentials in college as Corliss Williamson.
3. Oubre was a #15 pick was a player known for defense but with limited offense, just like Romeo. Now Oubre starts for GSW. He's 25. That's how long it took.
4. Gordon said what he said. I have no reason, nor contradicting evidence, to dispute him. He had no reason to lie, he had a contract in front of him, which he signed. He could say anything he wanted.


Bob


.

Bob great analysis, agree pretty much with all your points. Having said that, if we can get our health back to normal next year we will be loaded at the wing with 2 J’s, Frenchy and growths from AN/Romeo and we know GH has no loyalty and can’t last until playoffs or give his team anything in the playoffs. Losing GH I hate to say was a blessing. Our strength is still at the wings and we still have the 2 most dynamic young superstar wings in the league. I would continue to build around them, we can survive an off year.

Cowens

Stop using the injury excuse please.  That is not the issue.  There are 2 issues:

1) You need a dominating center who can play defense.  Ainge has an injury prone center in Williams and no backup center to speak of. Thompson plays below the rim and is not considered a rim protector which we need.
2) You need a real point guard who knows how to get the other 4 teammates involved in the game.

Nesmith and Langford are nice but yet untested players with a short history.  I hope they up their game next year with work over the summer.  

112288

bobheckler wrote:

Ktron wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt,

I agree.  This was a weird season.  COVID, injuries all made it hard.  Furthermore, in the case of Brad, he took us to the EC Finals in 3 of the last 4 years (3 out of the last 5 if we don't make it this year).  That's not bad.  Our record this season sucks, obviously, but it hasn't been easy.  Once again, I'll repeat this for the record, our top 7 players have never played one minute together this whole season.  Expecting us to have a great season record with a roster availability like that is asking a bit much, in my opinion.

Danny, on the other hand, is something else.  The reason why Brad's bench sucks is because of Danny's strategy of hoarding draft picks to pull off another KG-type deal and that fell through because the picks weren't as good as Danny thought they'd be and now we own a kindergarten.  Sacramento rallied and we only got a 14 pick, who turned out to be Romeo Langford, for trade bait.  #14 is not that enticing.  Same thing with the Memphis pick that turned out to be Aaron Nesmith.  Nesmith's coming along but if Memphis had sucked like everybody thought they were going to it would have been a high lottery pick, which would have brought tremendous value to the team or a very enticing trade offer.  Two questions beg to be answered, then.  First, was Danny being reasonable when he projected those two teams to be really bad and, as a result, give him a highly desirable draft pick to dangle?  Well, you never can go too far wrong predicting the Sacramento Kings to suck.  In the case of Memphis they blew their team up by trading away Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.  Didn't you expect them to suck too?  Weren't we all drooling in anticipation of their record being SO bad that pick would get pushed back for another year with even less protection?  Secondly, did Danny do the right thing by using those picks instead of trading them away for veterans (or subsequent year first rounders)?  This is all 20/20 hindsight, of course, but it will tell us whether it was poor judgment by Danny, and therefore his fault, or if they were good bets that just didn't pan out.  This is not a precise science we're dealing with here.

What's making this harder to analyze is that Romeo can't get on the court because of what appear to be one-off injuries, and Nesmith's just a rook.  If Romeo can stay healthy and turns into Kelly Oubre, then Danny looks like he's just a freak injury or two away from being a genius since he got Romeo from fleecing Philly in the Fultz/Tatum trade, and if Nesmith turns into Terrence Ross except with better defense and rebounding then he's a genius again because we got Nesmith for Jeff Green.  Hell, if Aaron Nesmith turns into anything even remotely consistent that's an upgrade over Jeff Green.

Where I fault Danny is for using his lower picks on Grant Williams and for getting overeager and signing Carsen Edwards to a guaranteed multi-year contract.  I'm not as down on Grant as some on this board but I'd be just as happy if Danny had traded Grant's pick up and out of the draft and resigned Semi, if we felt we needed a player like that, rather than using the pick on Grant.  #22 picks are usually rotation players, at best.  As I have said in another post Grant Williams was an All-American and the first player since Corliss Williamson to be 2X SEC POY.  I can sorta understand why Danny thought he was worth a roll of the dice.  Carsen Edwards was a mistake.  Period.  He had an amazing summer league and has done nothing since.  Is he expensive?  No, but he consumes a roster spot, a spot that could have been filled with a veteran that could help us now.  Danny traded Javonte Green to free up a roster spot.  Now that Jaylen's down wouldn't it be nice to still have him here?  Couldn't happen because Carsen consumes a roster spot.  We were too young already, it was a mistake for Danny to lock us into that youth with the Edwards contract, but should Carsen Edwards be a firing mistake? Should making a mistake on the contract of the #14 or #15 player on the roster be a firing mistake? 

Another area where Danny got a little ahead of himself, and we have really paid for it, was with Kemba.  We lost Kyrie, were about to lose Rozier and Danny jumped on Kemba.  An awful contract which has hamstrung us and will continue to hamstring us for as long as he is here.  Could/should Danny have known about Kemba's knee?

There will be, and are, people who fault Danny for losing Kyrie and Hayward for nothing.  BOTH of those players were fully on-board with being a Celtic right up through the trade deadline, so trading them for something would have required Danny to read their minds, since they weren't saying anything worrisome at the time.  Should Danny have taken the Myles Turner deal instead of the TPE?  Hmm.  Tough one.  If Evan Fournier resigns that question gets even harder to answer because Fournier is good value even compared to Turner and, with about $11M in TPE left, how Danny applies that will finish that.  Fournier plus a good player not yet identified for Hayward?  Considering that Hayward has himself said that he didn't make up his mind whether to leave or not until the morning he actually made the decision we're asking Danny and Brad to read minds.  Gordon was always a good locker room presence, he was never a malcontent, always a good soldier.  You never heard so much as a peep out of Gordon Hayward.  So what would have been the give-away?


Bob


.

Bob H, You blame Danny Ray for most of this mess and I’m in total agreement. But how you’ve managed to conflate Aaron Nesmith with Jeff Green i’ll never figure. I guess its similar to Danny conflating Grant Williams with Corliss Williamson. Romeo turning into Kelly Oubre turns Danny Ray into a genius? I was riding shotgun with ya until.....
You then go on to make excuses for his Danny’s miscues and F/ups. I mean how was Danny supposed to know that Kyrie and Hayward were going to leave? I mean they did not have a puss on their face and say they wanted to leave so how is one to know? He’s the GD GM, he is supposed to have a handle on what’s going on with his team. No, Danny Ray is not a mind reader, he’s just runs the Boston Celtics thats all. One does not have to tell one that he is about to ghost before he disappears. Find another excuse because even Danny wouldn’t own up to that kind of incompetency. Do you actually believe that Hayward didn’t make up his mind until first light that morning and Danny nor Brad had zero inkling what was about to go down?
Cmon Bob, do you really believe that?
I could be totally wrong and you could be spot on. Let’s hope for both our sake that you are wrong because if you’re right, we have some awful dumb people running our beloved and we are in for some really really bad times ahead.

ktron,

1.  The draft pick we got for Jeff Green turned into Aaron Nesmith.  A pretty solid quid pro quo.
2.  Grant Williams had the same credentials in college as Corliss Williamson.
3.  Oubre was a #15 pick was a player known for defense but with limited offense, just like Romeo.  Now Oubre starts for GSW.  He's 25.  That's how long it took.
4.  Gordon said what he said.  I have no reason, nor contradicting evidence, to dispute him.  He had no reason to lie, he had a contract in front of him, which he signed.  He could say anything he wanted.


Bob


.

1. No conclusion can be reached as to comparison at this stage. We wont know how that turns out for years. I suspect Nesmith will turn put to be the better player which is a win for us. We’ll see.

2. So what if they had the same credentials. Means very little-obviously. Grant will never ever come close to a Corliss.- Strike 1

3. Oubre is average at best and his starting for GW means very little because right now they have very little. Jury is still out but I don’t think Romeo is going to more than average at best. I’d say its a wash.

4. You’re missing my point. You are right, Gordon can say anything he wanted but it doesn’t matter what Gordon said or implied. As a 20 yr GM Danny should have some kind of inkling as to what the possibilities are a be prepared for it. Also, We all thought and some of us still think that Brad and Gordon were close. Down like 4 flats on a Cadillac. If thats anywhere near true than Brad had to have an inkling too. These are the things that get Execs and Managers fired. No owner of a business wants his GM or CEO to continue to lose key people and then explain to them that “Hey, I had no idea they were going to kick rocks. I had no idea that they were unhappy here. They never told me they wanted to leave”!?
That’s okay with you?

cowens/oldschool wrote:Bob great analysis, agree pretty much with all your points. Having said that, if we can get our health back to normal next year we will be loaded at the wing with 2 J’s, Frenchy and growths from AN/Romeo and we know GH has no loyalty and can’t last until playoffs or give his team anything in the playoffs. Losing GH I hate to say was a blessing. Our strength is still at the wings and we still have the 2 most dynamic young superstar wings in the league. I would continue to build around them, we can survive an off year.

We are in a good place when it comes to our Wings-for now. See growth in AN not sure about “No O Romeo.
As for GH and loyalty. Loyalty to whom? That’s a two way street. Just ask I.T., Avery and Crowder just to name a few. Miss me with the loyalty. It’s non-existent.

Ktron wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

Ktron wrote:

bobheckler wrote:

NYCelt wrote:

dboss wrote:Brad is not going anywhere at this time.

If next season becomes a carbon copy then you have to change who sits in the driver seat.

That would be my guess.

I believe Brad gets a partial pass due to the incredible injury situation and the fact that he's been handed a roster that's anything but deep.

I do think Stevens has made the best of what he's had this year. My own inclination would be to part ways with Ainge before Stevens. Danny has done what I would call a decent job over the years, about average for an NBA GM, maybe just slightly better. I do think that apart from injuries the issues the team has seen for the past 10 years have revolved around poor roster decisions. Despite his early reputation as 'Trader Danny,' I think Ainge has been much less aggressive in personnel decisions than he could be. I think that's especially true since the trade with the Nets for KG and Pierce.

Neither Stevens nor Ainge have been terrible and at times each has done very well in my opinion. The fact is that you just can't go on being mediocre without making some changes (true of most anything in life, wouldn't you agree?). I believe one more year has been earned before the exit sign lights up for at least one of Ainge or Stevens.

NYCelt,

I agree.  This was a weird season.  COVID, injuries all made it hard.  Furthermore, in the case of Brad, he took us to the EC Finals in 3 of the last 4 years (3 out of the last 5 if we don't make it this year).  That's not bad.  Our record this season sucks, obviously, but it hasn't been easy.  Once again, I'll repeat this for the record, our top 7 players have never played one minute together this whole season.  Expecting us to have a great season record with a roster availability like that is asking a bit much, in my opinion.

Danny, on the other hand, is something else.  The reason why Brad's bench sucks is because of Danny's strategy of hoarding draft picks to pull off another KG-type deal and that fell through because the picks weren't as good as Danny thought they'd be and now we own a kindergarten.  Sacramento rallied and we only got a 14 pick, who turned out to be Romeo Langford, for trade bait.  #14 is not that enticing.  Same thing with the Memphis pick that turned out to be Aaron Nesmith.  Nesmith's coming along but if Memphis had sucked like everybody thought they were going to it would have been a high lottery pick, which would have brought tremendous value to the team or a very enticing trade offer.  Two questions beg to be answered, then.  First, was Danny being reasonable when he projected those two teams to be really bad and, as a result, give him a highly desirable draft pick to dangle?  Well, you never can go too far wrong predicting the Sacramento Kings to suck.  In the case of Memphis they blew their team up by trading away Marc Gasol and Mike Conley.  Didn't you expect them to suck too?  Weren't we all drooling in anticipation of their record being SO bad that pick would get pushed back for another year with even less protection?  Secondly, did Danny do the right thing by using those picks instead of trading them away for veterans (or subsequent year first rounders)?  This is all 20/20 hindsight, of course, but it will tell us whether it was poor judgment by Danny, and therefore his fault, or if they were good bets that just didn't pan out.  This is not a precise science we're dealing with here.

What's making this harder to analyze is that Romeo can't get on the court because of what appear to be one-off injuries, and Nesmith's just a rook.  If Romeo can stay healthy and turns into Kelly Oubre, then Danny looks like he's just a freak injury or two away from being a genius since he got Romeo from fleecing Philly in the Fultz/Tatum trade, and if Nesmith turns into Terrence Ross except with better defense and rebounding then he's a genius again because we got Nesmith for Jeff Green.  Hell, if Aaron Nesmith turns into anything even remotely consistent that's an upgrade over Jeff Green.

Where I fault Danny is for using his lower picks on Grant Williams and for getting overeager and signing Carsen Edwards to a guaranteed multi-year contract.  I'm not as down on Grant as some on this board but I'd be just as happy if Danny had traded Grant's pick up and out of the draft and resigned Semi, if we felt we needed a player like that, rather than using the pick on Grant.  #22 picks are usually rotation players, at best.  As I have said in another post Grant Williams was an All-American and the first player since Corliss Williamson to be 2X SEC POY.  I can sorta understand why Danny thought he was worth a roll of the dice.  Carsen Edwards was a mistake.  Period.  He had an amazing summer league and has done nothing since.  Is he expensive?  No, but he consumes a roster spot, a spot that could have been filled with a veteran that could help us now.  Danny traded Javonte Green to free up a roster spot.  Now that Jaylen's down wouldn't it be nice to still have him here?  Couldn't happen because Carsen consumes a roster spot.  We were too young already, it was a mistake for Danny to lock us into that youth with the Edwards contract, but should Carsen Edwards be a firing mistake? Should making a mistake on the contract of the #14 or #15 player on the roster be a firing mistake? 

Another area where Danny got a little ahead of himself, and we have really paid for it, was with Kemba.  We lost Kyrie, were about to lose Rozier and Danny jumped on Kemba.  An awful contract which has hamstrung us and will continue to hamstring us for as long as he is here.  Could/should Danny have known about Kemba's knee?

There will be, and are, people who fault Danny for losing Kyrie and Hayward for nothing.  BOTH of those players were fully on-board with being a Celtic right up through the trade deadline, so trading them for something would have required Danny to read their minds, since they weren't saying anything worrisome at the time.  Should Danny have taken the Myles Turner deal instead of the TPE?  Hmm.  Tough one.  If Evan Fournier resigns that question gets even harder to answer because Fournier is good value even compared to Turner and, with about $11M in TPE left, how Danny applies that will finish that.  Fournier plus a good player not yet identified for Hayward?  Considering that Hayward has himself said that he didn't make up his mind whether to leave or not until the morning he actually made the decision we're asking Danny and Brad to read minds.  Gordon was always a good locker room presence, he was never a malcontent, always a good soldier.  You never heard so much as a peep out of Gordon Hayward.  So what would have been the give-away?


Bob


.

Bob H, You blame Danny Ray for most of this mess and I’m in total agreement. But how you’ve managed to conflate Aaron Nesmith with Jeff Green i’ll never figure. I guess its similar to Danny conflating Grant Williams with Corliss Williamson. Romeo turning into Kelly Oubre turns Danny Ray into a genius? I was riding shotgun with ya until.....
You then go on to make excuses for his Danny’s miscues and F/ups. I mean how was Danny supposed to know that Kyrie and Hayward were going to leave? I mean they did not have a puss on their face and say they wanted to leave so how is one to know? He’s the GD GM, he is supposed to have a handle on what’s going on with his team. No, Danny Ray is not a mind reader, he’s just runs the Boston Celtics thats all. One does not have to tell one that he is about to ghost before he disappears. Find another excuse because even Danny wouldn’t own up to that kind of incompetency. Do you actually believe that Hayward didn’t make up his mind until first light that morning and Danny nor Brad had zero inkling what was about to go down?
Cmon Bob, do you really believe that?
I could be totally wrong and you could be spot on. Let’s hope for both our sake that you are wrong because if you’re right, we have some awful dumb people running our beloved and we are in for some really really bad times ahead.

ktron,

1.  The draft pick we got for Jeff Green turned into Aaron Nesmith.  A pretty solid quid pro quo.
2.  Grant Williams had the same credentials in college as Corliss Williamson.
3.  Oubre was a #15 pick was a player known for defense but with limited offense, just like Romeo.  Now Oubre starts for GSW.  He's 25.  That's how long it took.
4.  Gordon said what he said.  I have no reason, nor contradicting evidence, to dispute him.  He had no reason to lie, he had a contract in front of him, which he signed.  He could say anything he wanted.


Bob


.

1. No conclusion can be reached as to comparison at this stage. We wont know how that turns out for years. I suspect Nesmith will turn put to be the better player which is a win for us. We’ll see.

              2. So what if they had the same credentials. Means very little-obviously. Grant will never ever come close to a Corliss.- Strike 1

              3. Oubre is average at best and his starting for GW means very little because right now they have very little. Jury is still out but I don’t think Romeo is going to more than average at best. I’d say its a wash.

              4. You’re missing my point. You are right, Gordon can say anything he wanted but it doesn’t matter what Gordon said or implied. As a 20 yr GM Danny should have some kind of inkling as to what the possibilities are a be prepared for it. Also, We all thought and some of us still think that Brad and Gordon were close. Down like 4 flats on a Cadillac. If thats anywhere near true than Brad had to have an inkling too. These are the things that get Execs and Managers fired. No owner of a business wants his GM or CEO to continue to lose key people and then explain to them that “Hey, I had no idea they were going to kick rocks. I had no idea that they were unhappy here. They never told me they wanted to leave”!?  
That’s okay with you?

Ktron,

Based upon all reports Brad and Gordon were close, and maybe/probably still are.  If this is correct, then, did Brad know?  If Brad didn't know it's damn unlikely Danny knew.  If Brad knew and didn't tell Danny that's a whole other crock of issues.  If Brad knew Gordon was unhappy why didn't he work with Gordon to change the offense so he would be happy and, if he realized there was nothing he could do to make Gordon happy on the Celtics, then why didn't he and Gordon and Danny sit down and figure out how to move Gordon somewhere where he would be happy?  Danny has accomodated such players' wishes before.  It makes no sense for Brad to know Gordon's unhappy, know he can't make him happy and just passive-aggressively wait until he left at season end because Brad's the one who'll be expected to deal with the loss of talent the next season, so it is in Brad's own best interest to get everybody on the same page. Those scenarios I detailed are all logically conflicted, in one way or another.  It is much easier and, in my opinion, reasonable to conclude that Gordon told nobody in the Celtic organization that he was so unhappy he was considering leaving for reasons other than money.  I'm sure his wife knew, and his family, but not the coaching staff or the front office (players might have known but they wouldn't rat out another player).  If Danny knew there would have been trade rumors flying as every other GM in the league, who would almost all be fielding trade inquiries from Danny for Gordon, would be pumping out rumors to try to fuel the fire.  We see that happen every trade season, crap gets thrown out there in public to try and force someone's hand. There were no "Gordon Hayward's on the block" rumors, none that I can remember.  We heard that Gordon was frustrated, but that was mostly due to his injury history and difficulty in getting back to All-Star level. He explicitly said that was the problem.

People leave their places of employment all the time and management doesn't know they were looking.  The NBA is a little different, players are under contract and can't just walk, but it's the same thing from the perspective of how the employee (in this case #20), went about his business at his place of employment for as long as he worked at that place of employment.  I have changed jobs many times in my career, I'll bet more than a few of the members of this board have too, did our employers know we were trying to leave or did we put on a happy face and do our job while we bitched to our family, our friends and called headhunters on the sly and/or sent out resumes on the weekends?  


Bob


.

Bob, you are presenting a lot of hypotheticals here. If who knew what and if they did or did not know and did not tell so and so then hows one to know? And :>) I don’t know if there is an answer. But, one hypothetical you brought up which I find alarming is that if Brad knew that Gordon was unhappy with his role in the offense why didn’t Brad change the offense to make Gordon happy. At what and who’s expense? I don’t believe that to be the case but if anyone does I’ll ask this. Is one player more Important than the goal of the team? Do you make that one player happy at the risk of getting off track and at the same time pissing off other players? Oh, but wait. You may Have a point. Maybe that’s what Brad did when he put Hayward back in the starting lineup the year after that horrendous injury. Gordon wanted it, felt he was ready, Brad accommodated and we found out that not only was it a bit too early to reinsert Gordon but it also pissed off some of his teammates. How did that season turn out? Of course there was some other shiggidy going on but that scenario contributed to the demise. Let’s try and forget that even happened by not trying to accommodate another player in the future just to make him happy. Danny has done this before? With whom for whom and when? Perk? How did that work out?
Everything mentioned about trade rumors and Gm’s calling are very much a part of what goes on in the league. I now know that you are not missing the point that I am trying to drive home here. I do think that you are just refusing to see it.
Of course people leave jobs all the time. Sometimes management knows and there are times that they are indeed caught off guard.
I too have left jobs voluntarily. Most had an inkling that i was headed out the door. Very few were caught by surprise. Maybe because I have a terrible poker face or maybe that the business I’m in is so small (like the NBA is) that people just find out somehow. I can also say that I have also left involuntarily or better yet promoted to a better position in the street. Never did that ever happen that I did not have some kind of idea that my skates were being oiled up. They just happen to get me before I could get out.
Nowhere Have I worked as a Director of anything where good people consistently leaving on my watch or anyone else’s watch was okay. The only time it was okay was when they wanted them (no so good people) to quit so they wouldn’t have to pay unemployment.
No matter how you dress it up, its not a good look ands its not good for any organization when good people leave and its even worse when you’re not prepared for it and or completely unaware of it.
Bottom line is, we are in agreement..somewhat. We both believe that Danny didn’t know. Where we disagree is that I don’t think thats okay and par for the course. In the world that I live in its a fireable offense..

112288 wrote:Cowens

Stop using the injury excuse please.  That is not the issue.  There are 2 issues:

1) You need a dominating center who can play defense.  Ainge has an injury prone center in Williams and no backup center to speak of. Thompson plays below the rim and is not considered a rim protector which we need.
2) You need a real point guard who knows how to get the other 4 teammates involved in the game.

Nesmith and Langford are nice but yet untested players with a short history.  I hope they up their game next year with work over the summer.  

112288

I understand that, but what we may want may have limitations to what we can get because of the players/contracts that already are on the roster. Any center in the draft will take a few years to develop, I agree we need more than RWill and Thompson. Most on the board want to resign Frenchy, with 2 J’s signed long term and untouchable and Kemba an injured piece, we don’t have much if any room for a FA big, unless it’s a cheap one that cannot play. Our best trading chip is probably Smart, but we lose a lot if we lose him. So our strength is our wings, 2 young superstar wings and a sniper in Frenchy and 2 very good development pieces in AN and Romeo who have shown they belong, but still need a lot of work. I don’t know if anyone would take Kemba at that overpriced contract and don’t know if anyone would take RWill with his fragile injury history. We may not be a team that contends with an elite 1 and 5.

Bob, you have me convinced. Your argument is very cogent, and I am buying it. KTron, yes Danny would be a better GM if he knew when players were about to bolt, but we are talking about 3 free agents here. Kyrie, the implacable one, Al Horford, the wildly overpaid one, and Gordon, the insanely overpaid way too often injured former and never to be again All Star. If Kyrie had not so maliciously liedto theCeltics, yes Danny could have and would have traded him for value. Big Al, nothing Danny could do about that, and his departure did not hurt us, really. Gordon, we were blessed that he left. He was way overpaid. Signing Kemba took the art of overpaying to a whole new stratospheric level...a big Danny blunder.

For at least another year Danny and Brad are with us, and I have come to accept the wisdom in Atcross' and Bob's analyses. I hope we beat the Nets and turn this into a miraculous season after all. Even if we make the likely early exit out of the playoffs, I am still thrilled to watch Boston basketball and have very high hopes for next year.
Peace out.

worcester wrote:Bob, you have me convinced. Your argument is very cogent, and I am buying it. KTron, yes Danny would be a better GM if he knew when players were about to bolt, but we are talking about 3 free agents here. Kyrie, the implacable one, Al Horford, the wildly overpaid one, and Gordon, the insanely overpaid way too often injured former and never to be again  All Star. If Kyrie had not so maliciously liedto theCeltics, yes Danny could have and would have traded him for value. Big Al, nothing Danny could do about that, and his departure did not hurt us, really. Gordon, we were blessed that he left. He was way overpaid. Signing Kemba took the art of overpaying to a whole new stratospheric level...a big Danny blunder.

For at least another year Danny and Brad are with us, and I have come to accept the wisdom in Atcross' and Bob's analyses. I hope we beat the Nets and turn this into a miraculous season after all. Even if we make the likely early exit out of the playoffs, I am still thrilled to watch Boston basketball and have very high hopes for next year.
Peace out.

Worcester here sauce! I too am festively jovial over the fact that I get to watch at least 4 more games of Celtics green. Win or lose at this point doesn’t matter as much to me as playing well and giving hope for next year.
I won’t further belabor the point about Danny Ray and his ineptness nor do I care to hear the excuses. What’s done or not done has been done..or not done and ain’t nothing we can do bout it. I really only have 3 wishes left for this season-
(1) C’s to play well and hopefully win but most importantly play well.
(2) Brooklyn loses a playoff series and does not win the NBA finals and Kyrie comes down with something (ok thats 1and 1/2)
(3) The Laker don’t get out of the West and Lebron comes down with something and ends up in the same Urgent Care as Kyrie. (ok thats more than 3. My apologies to you and the staff at urgent care)