NBA / Jun 13, 2008 / 1:58 pm

The Genius of Danny Ainge

By

IMAGE DESCRIPTION

As the Celtics were going into the tunnel last night as time expired, Danny Ainge reached out and grabbed James Posey. It was literally one of the only times I’ve seen Danny this entire playoffs. Yes, he won Executive of the Year, but the much maligned Ainge still hasn’t received the credit he should from both C’s and league-wide fans.

It hasn’t only been the big moves to acquire KG and Ray – the Celtics wouldn’t be here today if Ainge hadn’t very strategically put the right pieces around them. Right now the James Posey, Eddie House, and PJ Brown signings couldn’t look better (Sam who?). The Leon Powe second round steal is making everyone forget about Ryan Gomes and the heat that Ainge took for choosing Rajon Rondo over Marcus Williams has completely vanished (don’t pretend like it didn’t happen) and has every Celtics fan forgetting the name “Sebastian Telfair.” Throw in a productive Big Baby and the drafting and the development of a serviceable center in Kendrick Perkins and the Celtics architecture looks extremely solid.

Last night represented the complete Ainge 2008 resume, with Posey, House, PJ, and Powe all playing extremely meaningful minutes and having huge roles in the victory. If the Celtics do in fact take the trophy, a whole lot of focus is going to be on the draft day deal for Ray and the blockbuster for KG, but it’s Ainge’s moves to put the rest of the pieces together that have put the Celtics on that next, championship, level.

Related Posts with Thumbnails

Posted in NBA |

  • Egg head

    Damn good column. first!

  • http://GEE2.com GEE…The 900 number!

    All props to Ainge. I can’t stand dude’s look, name or style but he did his thing this year on a GM stand point. Other cats …(Hello Houston) need to take notice.

  • http://www.dimemag.com The Jed

    Real quick… I can’t take credit for the headline. I love Ainge, but i definitely didn’t call him a genius.

  • fallinup

    Would Ainge had done the same if the ping pong balls fell the way that they wanted??? With the #1 pick?? Until then, Ainge was still doing his yearly, mundane “youth movement” thing. I’d say thank luck, and Kevin McHale, and then Danny Ainge for the Celtics’ great year.

    Exactly how much convincing did Danny really have to do to get Posey, House, and Brown.

  • bullshit

    Shouldn’t we be giving the props to McHale?

  • Stiletto

    9 million dollars for Brian Scalabrine 9 million c’mon who is the genius now

  • http://www.ballerblogger.com Brandon Hoffman

    McHale should have been Co-Executive of the Year.

  • The Real Big Ticket

    Yeah,
    Ainge did his thing but don’t give him all the credit, he owes Kevin McHale a reach around for giving Garnett away for, hmm lets see: Al Jefferson (a stud), Gomes(solid), Bassy (a dud), G-Money (jobless and currently selling $5 footlongs at Subway),and a draft pick they used to draft Tyrone Biggums (oh, sorry Cory Brewer).

    If that wasn’t McHale looking out for his old team then I don’t know what is. LOL.

  • http://www.dimemag.com The Jed

    Oh I agree on Mchale. Don’t get me wrong. that’s like giving Mitch Kupchak all the credit on Gasol. Gotta give some props to Chris Wallace there as well.

  • Dime Magazine

    You have to give Ainge credit for being part of and ultimately pulling the trigger on the KG deal. Same thing with the Ray Allen trade. While Jefferson and Jeff Green could end up being phenomenal players for a long time, if/when Boston closes out the Finals, it will obviously be worth it.

    For the other moves, I’m not sure you can say they were brilliant moves as much as they were no-brainers. The needed a backup PG and Sam was available (no one realized that he would stink). They needed more size and defense up front and PJ Brown was available. Both PJ and Sam chose the Celtics more than the Celtics chose them.

    And the Posey and House signings were very good moves. And I have to admit, I thought Posey was done.

    - PC

  • Reed Ewing Frazier

    @The Real Big Ticket Damn you hit that on the nail(lol!!)

    He did alright but we will see in 2yrs if he is great they should be headed for Salary cap problems by then. So we will see how he manages his executive duties.

    Shout out to the former Knick President and Coach Isiah”Still Gettin Paid” Thomas I still got love for you keep ya head up playboy!!

    KNICKS UP all the rest down!!

  • word

    yea Ainge gets major props for orchestrating the perfect team to have a perfect season… and it ends with a ring (I presume of course as history agrees), he makes the shit look easy but truthfully no body really ever thought the Celts would do what they’ve done, and much to Laker fans dismay, Ainge is my hero.
    this was the best season ever for me (I am young so I missed the Jordan days.) and nothing makes me more hype than to see KG and Pierce hold up the hardware soon. Question is who will get finals mvp? Pierce? either way I hope we kill it off on Fathers Day and Kobe can go back to worrying about the olympics.

  • Celts Fan

    Stiletto, you got taht wrong. It was $15M over 5 years (I can see taking a flyer on a guy that’s 6’10″ w/ 3 pt. range, but over FIVE YEARS!?! ugh)

    and 2 years from now, Ray’s contract is expiring, Paul’s the year after (I think) then KG’s a year or 2 after that. Not saying they let these guys walk (all 3 should and probably will retire w/ the Cs,) but that’s right around the time they may think about retiring, and at the very least, they’re not making $15-$20M per again. They’ll be fine w/ the cap issue, it’s the talent issue when those 3 leave I’d worry about, but that’s for a MUCH LATER time.

  • Celts Fan

    2 other things for the record

    1. I wanted Marcus Williams and was PISSED they took Rondo over him.

    2. We don’t get KG unless we make the Telfair trade to then get Ratliff’s deal that expired a year earlier than Raef’s (those 2 were thrown into that deal almost unnoticed, but it ended up being HUGE)

  • http://www.flickr.com/photos/djkianoosh djKianoosh

    The Wolves and Grizzlies must hate life right now.

  • Reed Ewing Frazier

    @Celts Fans Damn I could have swore Ray just sign a new contract a couple of years ago oh well then you are probaly right But I think the young talent you have will fit in nicely after the Big 3 leave.

    That Grizzlies trade was a good trade Pau Gasol is a 2 or 3 scoring option and he is soft not someone to build a franchise around and pay as superstar they are better off without him. Give them a yr or two they will be back

    KNICKS UP all the rest down!!

  • Celts Fan

    Ya Reed, in theory, we should still have:

    Perk (a solid center that’s developing an offensive game and already has established himself as a presence defensively and on the boards)

    Rondo (solid PG that’s got great court vision. that jumper’s developing, but it’s still a year or 2 away from even reaching “average,” defensively and on the boards for a PG though, he’s GREAT.)

    Powe (solid dirty work guy. hopefully we can keep him)

    Big Baby (does the dirty work but has some offensive game. hopefully he’s not Mike Sweetney 2.0 and is still under 300lbs. a few years from now. If he’s not, he’s got some crafty offense and is not at all afraid to mix it up on the glass, though he will always struggle to get his shot up over bigger guys.)

    Gabe Pruitt (honed his skills in the D-League this year, but should take over for Eddie House/Sam next year as the backup PG. combo guard that’s played plenty of PG, so he can do that. can shoot and is pretty quick. 3 years from now, could be a solid starter in the NBA… or in Latvia. At this point, who knows. I’d like to think being the 2nd pick of the 2nd round means he’ll still be in the NBA though.)

    Our first round pick this year (we need a 2 guard 6’5″ or over and/or a big that’s 6’10″+, both for the bench)

    That seems to have the makings of a solid supporting cast, but even if Rondo ascends to top 5 pg in the league like I think he will within 5 years, they’re still missing that #1 guy. Other than that (and that’s a big thing to be missing) we’re set up fine for after the Big 3 go (not that anyone here is even worrying about it. Another decade of rebuilding will be COMPLETELY worth it as long as we get another W in the next week…)

  • E$

    K.G. had a choice of L.A. or Boston, you know McHale wasn’t letting him go to L.A.

  • http://www.dimemag.com Austin Burton

    Ainge and Boston also got lucky that the Sonics, by dealing Ray, had decided to become worse on purpose.

  • Celts Fan

    What choice!?! McHale’s the GM, KG didn’t get to choose crap, and no GM is gonna trade a guy as good as KG within their own conference. That’s not how it works…

    McHale got a package of two prospects (Gerald’s been exposed since but was still kinda highly regarded, and Big Al’s legit,) $17M in expiring deals (Telfair, Gomes – who they should resign, but doubt he’d want to – and Ratliff,) the #3 OVERALL pick this year, our #1 next year, and another #2

    LA coulda maybe given them Kwame’s expiring deal, some other expiring contracts, Bynum (who they’ve said they weren’t trading so many times,) and a few #1s that’d promise to be in the 20s.

    Which one would you take?

  • AY

    how about a “who is boston’s finals mvp” discussion. Right now KG has as much chance of winning as Leon Powe.

  • von johnson

    how sick is al jefferson

  • Cammy Z

    As noted above, both trades (with the Sonics and the T’Wolves) were fair trades. That happens. Bad teams with superstars sometimes decide to get something in return rather than watch their superstar get old.

-->