Man, you do not want to mess with

Danny Ainge.  Baby-faced and feisty.






bob


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Beginning with the Kyrie Irving deal, I think that the rest of the league is no longer going to be caught napping when dealing with Mr. Ainge.

Not to criticize the Irving deal in any way, but Ainge did seem to give up a little bit more than he had in the past to make a good deal for the Cs.

It took the league quite a while to catch up, but they may be on to him much more now than in the past.

Watching Brad effortlessly guide his team to a win in Utah reminded me of that other Celtics coach who excelled at getting his team to exceed their limitations. Sure, a man's got to know his limitations, but knowing them gives him the chance to exceed them. Brad, like Red, knows the tricks to get his players to play beyond anyone's expectations. Bill Russell famously said that he wouldn't have been half as successful if he had been coached by anyone but Red.

Danny, like Red, has a reputation as a GM who will pick your pocket just for practice and it wouldn't be surprising if other GMs didn't answer the phone or return his calls. Red has written about how he habitually called every GM in the league every day, even though none of them would talk to him. Of course, GMs come and go and eventually Red found one who would trade (in effect) Robert Parish and Kevin McHale for Joe Barry Carroll.

Danny isn't there yet. He only has to lead this franchise to 15 more championships. Can't wait.

While it is true that both Red and Danny have built reps as shrewd traders, that doesn't mean deals won't still get done. It also doesn't mean that Red and Danny entered into negotiations with the intent to fleece the other team. Sometimes it just happens that way. After all, in all of those instances, the other team surely thot they were getting a fair deal.

It's like the proverbial non tradeable contract. It doesn't make sense that certain contracts get traded, but they do. Put the right package together, dress it up with ribbons and bows and a draft pick or two, and players will move. We always remember the blockbuster that changes the story but how many other deals get done that are at best moderately unsuccessful? We just don't remember those as clearly. I have no doubt that Cleveland either initiated a serious call to Danny or were happy when he called. These things happen behind closed doors for a reason. The press releases are often just posture. What those other GM's are worried about much more than Danny's trading acumen is that he is known to bite ears off of people.

Actually it’s a shame Brook Lopez got injured the year KG and Pierce first played in Brooklyn. That team had some good moments and even without Lopez was very competitive with Heat/Lebron in the playoffs, each game was down to the wire with refs naturally giving Heat all the fockin calls. Pierce and KG we’re still productive and with a healthy Lopez they could have gotten to Finals.

wideclyde wrote:Beginning with the Kyrie Irving deal, I think that the rest of the league is no longer going to be caught napping when dealing with Mr. Ainge.

Not to criticize the Irving deal in any way, but Ainge did seem to give up a little bit more than he had in the past to make a good deal for the Cs.

It took the league quite a while to catch up, but they may be on to him much more now than in the past.

I do not believe Danny gave up too much.  If you want to get a top player that is 25 there is a cost.  The Celtics do not miss IT.  They do not miss Crowder.  They do not miss Zizic.  The Nets pick is unknown.

The Brooklyn deal is the singular move that has the league wary of Ainge.  But he made other deals too.
And a lot of them.  Can anybody out there off the top of their head without looking up information tell me how we got the Memphis or Clippers 1st rounders?

Danny is like a pick pocket.  You get home and then realize your wallet is missing.  

Danny is the top GM in the league in terms of buildings an asset based team.  He is able to do this because he is always focused on trading up.  Many times these moves are very subtle.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Actually it’s a shame Brook Lopez got injured the year KG and Pierce first played in Brooklyn. That team had some good moments and even without Lopez was very competitive with Heat/Lebron in the playoffs, each game was down to the wire with refs naturally giving Heat all the fockin calls. Pierce and KG we’re still productive and with a healthy Lopez they could have gotten to Finals.

There is a pretty wide canyon between making the finals to being a lottery team 3 straight years in a row.  It would be a stretch to imagine that drafting Brown and Tatum and the using the last nets pick to secure a trade for the dynamic Kyrie Irving could possibly hinge on a healthy android named Lopez.

I'm just saying.  That team was half baked already.

dboss wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Actually it’s a shame Brook Lopez got injured the year KG and Pierce first played in Brooklyn. That team had some good moments and even without Lopez was very competitive with Heat/Lebron in the playoffs, each game was down to the wire with refs naturally giving Heat all the fockin calls. Pierce and KG we’re still productive and with a healthy Lopez they could have gotten to Finals.

There is a pretty wide canyon between making the finals to being a lottery team 3 straight years in a row.  It would be a stretch to imagine that drafting Brown and Tatum and the using the last nets pick to secure a trade for the dynamic Kyrie Irving could possibly hinge on a healthy android named Lopez.

I'm just saying.  That team was half baked already.

Agreed and they made that trade to go all in and contend that year, and if Lopez hadn’t gone down with the injury bug, that team was talented enough to contend THAT year....Pierce even said if I’m Danny I have to do that trade, he wasn’t bitter at all. May rival the Parish-McHale for Joe Barry trade as best in franchise history as years go by.

What I'm finding amusing is that the video I provided has nothing to do with Danny as a GM, it's all about him as a player, but all the comments are about him as a GM.

Goes to show the man has been in green for a very, very long time. There is so much history to talk about we can go on and on and only touch on half of it.


bob


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bobheckler wrote:What I'm finding amusing is that the video I provided has nothing to do with Danny as a GM, it's all about him as a player, but all the comments are about him as a GM.

Goes to show the man has been in green for a very, very long time.  There is so much history to talk about we can go on and on and only touch on half of it.


bob


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Albeit not yet a Celtic, but Ainge going coast to coast in NCAA's and "Tree bites man" are 2 Ainge as a player memories that immediately come to mind for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmkFuSRxxzc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsZ9k18GFb4

I’m just glad he couldn’t hit a curveball... or not much else 

Otherwise he’d be in the front office at some Major League Team