Ainge Would Consider Big Three Trade

Posted by Gary Washburn Globe Staff January 18, 2012 08:51 PM

Celtics vice president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said today he would consider a major move involving the Big Three if it would help foster the team's transition to the next era.

The Celtics have begun the season with eight losses in their first 12 games and there has been increasing speculation Ainge would blow up the team's veteran core of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce if the team were not competitive this season.

Ainge said he would consider trades if they would net younger talent. He has maintained he does not want the franchise to go through a 10-year span of insignificance as it did following the departures of the previous Big Three of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish, who remained with the team past their primes.

"First of all it’s a different era," Ainge told the Globe. "I sat with Red (Auerbach) during a Christmas party (in the 1990s). Red was talking to Larry, Kevin and myself and there was a lot of trade discussion at the time and Red actually shared some of the trade discussions. And I told Red what are you doing? Why are you waiting?

"He had a chance to trade Larry (to Indiana) for Chuck Person and Herb Williams and (Steve) Stipanovich and he had a chance to trade Kevin (to Dallas) for Detlef Schrempf and Sam Perkins. I was like are you kidding? I mean I feel that way now. If I were presented with those kind of deals for our aging veterans, it’s a done deal to continue the success."

Ainge said he does not want a repeat of the 1990s in Boston.

"After those guys retired, the Celtics had a long drought," he said. "But those (types of fruitful trades) aren’t presenting themselves. In today’s day and age with 30 teams in the NBA, 15 teams know they have no chance of winning a championship. They are building with young players. It’s a different era that we live in. It’s easy to say conceptually but you have to always weigh what are real opportunities."

When asked to assess the team's first 12 games which includes losing streaks of three and five games, Ainge said: "We haven’t played well as we’re capable of playing. I know we’re a better team than we’ve shown. I’ve seen it in spurts but just not in consistency. There hasn’t been any consistency.

"I think that there's no excuses because every team has had the same training camp but we weren’t prepared. We haven’t been prepared mentally, physically to win. I don’t have the answers as to why but it obviously hurt not having Paul (Pierce) for training camp or the first three games. I think Paul’s been trying to find himself. I’m not panicked, but I think like the players and the coaches, I think we’re better than we’re playing."

Ainge said he will be patient in determining whether the Celtics can actually compete for the Eastern Conference crown.

"Identify the real reasons instead of looking at the record and we’ve gone through bad stretches before with teams that have won championships and teams that have gone to the finals," he said. "We have gone through some really ugly, bad stretches before and so I have to be careful to not overreact to a situation that’s going bad versus a situation that’s not going to get better or even if it does get better, it’s not going to be good enough. That’s my job to evaluate."

112288

112288

Below says it all.

Ainge said he will be patient in determining whether the Celtics can actually compete for the Eastern Conference crown.

"Identify the real reasons instead of looking at the record and we’ve gone through bad stretches before with teams that have won championships and teams that have gone to the finals," he said. "We have gone through some really ugly, bad stretches before and so I have to be careful to not overreact to a situation that’s going bad versus a situation that’s not going to get better or even if it does get better, it’s not going to be good enough. That’s my job to evaluate

Swish

I think that is the most prudent approach to take. So I am confident he will make the right decision.

112288

PS He's probably on the phones right now with other GM's!

112288:

You got more faith in Ainge than I do.He didn't make the right decision with Perk, Posey, House & Powe.

MD!

MDCelticsFan wrote:112288:

You got more faith in Ainge than I do.He didn't make the right decision with Perk, Posey, House & Powe.

MD!

Posey, House and Powe have been Missing in action since they left the Celtics. DA made exactly the right call on 3 of those 4 you mentioned. 75% is a percentage I can live with.

mrkleen:

What you fail to see is that it matters not what they've done elsewhere, they were perfect fits as role players in the framework of what the Celtics were at the time of their untimely dismissal.

MD!

MDCelticsFan wrote:mrkleen:

What you fail to see is that it matters not what they've done elsewhere, they were perfect fits as role players in the framework of what the Celtics were at the time of their untimely dismissal.

MD!

MD

What you fail to see is that the problem with each of those players it was their eroding physical skills, age or injuries which caught up with them. That would have happened in NO, Miami, Cleveland - or on the end of the Celtics bench. DA made EXACTLY the right call in not signing any of those guys to long term deals.

Well MR:

It wasn't broke so it didn't need to be fixed. It just needed to be paid for. PJ Brown was the only one who wasn't coming back and didn't want to come back. To flip Johnny Cochran in the OJ trial, these guys fit so you have no choice but to Acquit!

MD

MD

Totally agree with Mrkleen here. Powe would have still be hurt and usless, Posey wanted too much money and years..... and as for Eddie he was part of a trade in which really none of the players have done much of anything since. So there could be some cause for debate for House and certainly Perk but none for Posey and Powe, IMHO.

None of those players are here now and I seriously doubt they would HELP at all right now. With the obvious exception of Perk.

Seems we have to move ahead but keep the same players. That's tough to do.

I'd love to see TAllen here too, but he went to greener pastures.

beat

The evidence is clear.

Posey's last good season was 2007-2008. The Celtics got the best of what James Posey had to offer.

Same with Leon Powe. He has (unfortunatley) been a shell of his former self since his knee injury. Celtics got the last gear year that Leon Powe has had, in 2008-09. He is currently not on an NBA roster.

Eddie House is inconsistent and always has been. As a bench player with an offensive spark, playing next to great defenders like Tony Allen, Posey, Glenn Davis - he was a serviceable player. If he had ANYTHING left in the tank, dont you think Miami would have played him more than 24 minutes in the finals?

Sounds like those three players were "broke" soon after they left the Celtics.

kleen is 100% right in my opinion.
Boston made a magical run late in the 2008 playoffs with the help of Powe, Posey and House.

Powe had injuries, Posey wanted big money and House was very one-dimensional.

I don't think any of those 3 are currently on an NBA roster.
Boston made the right decision letting them go.

tjmakz wrote:kleen is 100% right in my opinion.
Boston made a magical run late in the 2008 playoffs with the help of Powe, Posey and House.

Powe had injuries, Posey wanted big money and House was very one-dimensional.

I don't think any of those 3 are currently on an NBA roster.
Boston made the right decision letting them go.

TJ is right. None of those players are currently in the NBA. Injuries, age and lack of versatility are the career-enders for most professional athletes. I loved Leon, his story alone made me a fan even if his offensive rebounding didn't, but he's not the player he used to be. He never really recovered from the injury he suffered when he played for us. Posey is 35 years old now and wanted too much to stay here. Would he have been a difference maker the year KG's knee blew up? No. Would he have been a difference maker when Perk's knee blew up? Probably not, since we were getting killed on the offensive boards because we lost our beef and height. Would he have been a difference maker last year against Miami? I can't see Posey being quick enough to guard LeBum. There are a lot of swing players a lot younger than him that can play physical defense and drain 3s, Pietrus comes to mind and he's another Ainge pickup. Eddie's going on 34, legs are the first thing to go and they are critical to a jumpshooter like him. He had some good games for D'Antoni in NY, but in the end he left them to go to Miami who didn't use him and now he's retired.

IMO, Danny made the right decisions on these players.

bob

.

Powe, Posey, and House? Sigh...

The Perk trade was a gamble, and it didn't pay off. If a GM doesn't take chances, he's not doing his job. It was obvious that the C's needed to getter younger and more athletic, and they got a young, athletic player in Green plus a serviceable center who could actually put the ball in the hoop. Perk meant a lot to their defense and they miss that, but it's not Ainge's fault that they don't have Green and Krstic now.

It's obvious that everyone has an opinion on these trades or non-signings, and it doesn't look like anyone is going to be swayed by arguments either way.

Of all the literary and movie references available, the one that oddly comes to mind is Jonah Hex, the movie with Josh Brolin and John Malcovich (I haven't read the graphic novel). For anyone unfamiliar with the story, Jonah Hex has a special power that allows him to communicate with the dead. When he touches a corpse, the body reanimates so that he can have a conversation with the dead person. Anyway, it seems to me that talking about Powe, Posey, House, and Perk is like trying to reanimate something that's gone, but we'd be better off if these corpses stayed in the ground.

My apologies for that convoluted thought, but what the heck.

Outside

outside

Keeping in line with your thought.....

House was smallish

Perk was an extra large

But Powe and Posey were "mediums"

beat

After the game is over!! Thats the time when every sports fan in the world gets a chance to make all the moves that would have won the game. Yes in deed,, AFTER the game is over.
Swish

swish wrote:After the game is over!! Thats the time when every sports fan in the world gets a chance to make all the moves that would have won the game. Yes in deed,, AFTER the game is over.
Swish

Ditto

That's why we (the board) are here! Heck we have all the questions and the answers too!

beat

beat
Sure does promote lively conversations. Good place to listen and learn.
Swish