The Party Line: Ainge Staying Patient and Disciplined

by **Sam** Mon Jul 28, 2014 5:52 pm

Whether this is a revelation or a rationalization, this appears to be the conservative team approach the Celtics want to present to the public over the summer. It would be nice if basketball human assets were like monetary assets that just require one to visit the bank and make an exchange. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. That's why I continue to feel that none of us could have predicted Danny's underwhelming post-draft acquisitions and most of us felt he would go in directions he has either not wanted or not been able to accomplish.
I continue to be dead set against predicting a player's future based on his past—especially when joining a team like the Celtics—and I have hopes that Turner will turn into a much more vital player than many seem to believe he will—especially under Brad's control . I also like to believe that Zeller will, at the very least, flourish when gifted with more responsibility and playing time.

Anyway, here's the article:

Sam

Ainge Staying Patient, Disciplined

by Mark Murphy, Boston Herald

No amount of chips — and there have been some impressive stacks in play across the league — have been able to pry Kevin Love loose from Minnesota.

That could change once the 30-day moratorium on the new contracts of Cleveland’s Andrew Wiggins or Chicago’s Doug McDermott passes, but for now the Timberwolves power forward is in the place he least wants to be.

And the Celtics, through no fault or lack of effort of their own, are strictly a secondary player at the table — Paul Pierce at the World Series of POKER, if you will.

His general public may be waiting for more, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has been wading through a field of bad possibilities for his assets stack. Better to wait. Love is no less a long shot than any other quality possibility at the moment.

“Danny has been very disciplined,” Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca said. “He could have made a lot of deals by now, but not for the kind of player we want.”

That would be a rising star to pair with Rajon Rondo or, in the event of trading the point guard, another cornerstone player.

You never say never with Ainge, and in an interesting reworking of fellow owner Wyc Grousbeck’s “fireworks” prediction, Pagliuca points to Ainge’s restless NATURE.

“ ‘Fireworks’ means that Danny is fearless in trying to get something done,” Pagliuca said. “Wyc meant that there would be a lot of activity, and there’s still a lot of time to go. A lot of teams assess what they have and what they need after going through training camp.”

And at least for the record, Celtics ownership prefers to keep Rondo through his next contract, which would begin in the fall of 2015.

The Celts could actually receive a value bump from their existing material next season, with Rondo and Jeff Green both in contract years — the latter if he decides to decline the 2015-16 option in his contract.

But in the meantime, the Celtics are in the midst of a period that has a lot more in common with the Al Jefferson era than they would like to admit.

Jefferson was developed for three seasons before becoming the key bargaining chip in the 2007 trade for Kevin Garnett. The Celtics averaged 34 wins over that three-season stretch with Jefferson, including a two-year gap between playoff appearances.

Even with Ainge’s reputation considered, the business of flipping assets requires development and time. The Celtics’ 2008 NBA title resulted from the SINGLE greatest turnaround in NBA history — from a 24-win regular season to 66.

“I know how hard it was, and how fortunate we were that summer,” Ainge said of the summer of 2007. “It didn’t have to go that way. I don’t think people understand how challenging making deals is.

“It seems like every year there are opportunities, but you need the right assets to get into the conversation,” he said. “All we can do is keep looking.”

The Celtics have collected a series of middling assets this summer — a backup center type in Tyler Zeller and ideally a reserve scorer in Marcus Thornton. Like Green, Brandon Bass and the since-departed Kris Humphries, Thornton’s true value is best realized on a playoff team.

Evan Turner, like Green, is a huge talent who hasn’t matched his projections.

On a good team, these guys would be depth players, and depth players don’t bring major talent. The only Celtic capable of that kind of flip right now is Rondo, who is very much in play.

“It’s a little different now,” Pagliuca said, comparing this summer to 2007. “Back then we had Paul Pierce but not much talent around Paul. This is a better talent base that we have now. It’s a process. The key is to not go for just a short-term deal.

“As it was 10 or 12 years ago, the goal is to be patient and try to win a championship. That means bringing in and developing young players. All of that changes overnight if Danny is able to do the kind of trade that he’s done in the past.”

But sometimes that stockpile doesn’t have the same value in the eyes of other general managers.

“It’s not necessarily our objective,” Ainge said of collecting assets. “We’ve been able to do that, but we’re still trying to make something bigger and dynamic happen. You can’t force this. We’ve attained some good young players, and that’s good. But there’s a lot of challenges.”

Impatience on the outside is already growing. Ainge can’t give that much heed.

“I can’t control that,” he said of a restless public. “Typically — and you see it with all of the teams here — Boston fans understand what’s going on. Everyone wants to win, but I can’t let these things impact what we’re trying to do. You can’t force this.”

MARKET FOR LOVE COMPLICATED BY MORE THAN THE ASKING PRICE

By the time the Kevin Love deal is finalized — and by now Minnesota has no option but to get assets back — it will be on the doorstep of autumn.

Whether the winning asset is Andrew Wiggins, who will earn $5.5 million next season, or Doug McDermott, whose first-year salary will fall somewhere in the $2 million range, the 30-day moratorium on both contracts must first be honored.

And the rest of the league, at this stage, has been suitably puzzled.

“Perhaps the dollar amounts have something to do with it — that’s all I can think,” said one league official. “It sounds like Cleveland has the edge here, but I don’t think anyone really even knows right now.”

Third teams may also still have to be lined up as trade partners — an obvious role for the asset-rich Celtics, even if they don’t have Love-worthy assets.

But the Cavaliers, especially, have a lot of matching to do if their goal is to trade Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a first-round pick for Love, who will earn $15.7 million next season.