Eja's analysis:Ainge crushed it. Got better of almost all!

[eja117]

In my observational analysis this is what he did....

He has effectively raised the price of the Lakers getting Paul George. If they want him they will have to do something soon and because they don't have as good of future assets as the Celtics do they'll have to trade something they have now for him if they do that. That limits how good they can be this year, which helps the odds of their pick being 2-5 in the lottery next year and we'd get it.


He made the Bulls pay the consequence of asking too much for Jimmy B. He showed the league they were more desperate than him. So then the Wolves got him and not for much. They traded a guy who was up for a new big contract and is good, but not great (Lavine), a rookie who didn't do great (Dunn), and the 7th pick, but not only did they get Butler but the Bulls threw in the 16th pick too. This is great because it makes it that much harder for the Lakers or Nets to pass them, making it easier for us to get their picks next year.

The Bulls are a strong message to the rest of the league and the message says "If I offer you a fair deal and you don't take it and then you come back to me chances are the price isn't going up. Chances are the price is going down and you will end up trading your star for not a lot. So you should consider my first offer and not waste my time."

Next. He leaked it out to the league that the Knicks weren't serious and that they're demands were ridiculous. It sent more chaos into the Knicks front office.

By holding the line against KP, Butler, and George it forced those teams to compete for resources/assets, which resulted in a disgruntled player staying in NYC, the Wolves getting Butler for very little, and George not being on the Lakers (yet).

He also sent out a really strong memo to free agents......this is what I do....I enter the draft with a top 5 pick and I leave the draft with a top five pick and probably another one next year.

By controlling all the assets he set the market and he set it to his liking. He said if you call us don't call about top 3 picks because those things are better than your expensive unhappy players.

He made it clear they need us way more than we need them.

He has made it clear there will be two versions of the Celtics....the older one and the younger one.

The older one will probably look a little like

Horford
Hayward
IT
George

Or
Horford
Hayward
IT
Crowder
Avery

The younger team will look like
Tatum
Jaylen
Rozier
Zizic
Smart
Oyedji
Yab
Top 5 pick next year
Top 5 pick next year

You're talking about a generational team and everyone can see that. Nobody else has that.

Even if we didn't get P George what free agent doesn't want to be a part of that? In the mean time Blake Griffin and CP3 just opted out. Do they want every penny? You better believe their agents will call Ainge.

[eja117]

The huge part was Ainge not making any desperation win now or mortgage the future type moves

[DERRENMATTS]

I like the picture you've painted. Ainge was in total control of what happened. Teams were trying to get too much from him, and he basically walked out of the meeting.

Here's my offer -- take it or leave it; your choice.

He's got the cards in his hands and if we stay put, we come out with potentially transcendent players in the coming drafts. If we end up trading the picks, it'll be for a transcendent player -- not Jimmy Butler types.

We don't have to make deals, that's another aspect of it. We're (potentially) building a contender with these draft picks. Jaylen, Jayson, and then in the future DeAndre Ayton/Michael Porter, and Zion Williamson, etc. These guys could turn out to be way better than Jimmy Butler, maybe even Paul George.

Basically, one way or another, we're reaching the top, and no one can stop Ainge from doing it.

[eja117]

If you were the Nets right now how much would you love to have Smart, Rozier, Jaylen, Tatum, Oyedji, Yab, Zizic, and two top 5ish picks next year? And the Memphis pick? And the Clippers pick? And the Celts' first rounder next year? Or if you were the Suns? Or Sacramento?

Ainge is building a 2nd unit to compete with the youth of teams building right now.

Essentially he's building two teams at once.

[jmost]

Yet somehow the hosts of talk radio shows (Portland, ME and Boston) are almost unanimous that Ainge failed this week to make the team as good as he should have. Most of the people writing about the draft on the internet agreed with them. I think they're all idiots. If they had their way we'd have traded all our picks plus Jaylen for one star player like Butler or George or Porzingis. As I said, a bunch of idiots. We wouldn't be good enough to challenge GS or even Cleveland and then they'd be bitching about something else. I love that Danny is patient and just keeps building this thing.

Here's another thing that I've been thinking about. How many GMs would have had the guts to make the Philly trade? The easy thing is always to go with the crowd. If the crowd says Fultz is clearly the best player in the draft, and you (as GM) think otherwise, do you do what Danny did? Trade down, still get your guy, and add a potentially great future pick, taking the heat for a risky move? Or do you do the safe thing, taking the guy everyone thinks you should take? If I had to guess, out of 30 GMs, at least 25 of them would have just drafted Fultz - even if they thought someone else was better. The number might even be higher. It's maybe the thing I most admire about Ainge.

[eja117]

Somewhere I heard Ainge is smart enough to know going along with the crowd doesn't actually protect you from anything

[eja117]

One thing I think is clear about Tatum is that he seems like a culture guy to me. Josh Jackson may be a tad better in a vacuum but on a team Tatum might be the better fit. For example I am curious to watch if Jackson bumps heads with TJ Warren. I hope he realizes that he has to beat out Warren and that it won't be easy. I think Tatum, Jaylen, Rozier, and Smart all get that they have to beat people out to play. They know Stevens and Ainge won't reward screaming or show boating or anything like that. It will be defense, scoring, rebounding, and making the right play. Selfishness will not be rewarded on the Celtics.

And it's not just that. It's also fit with an agent. And now Brad Stevens and Ainge will have just a little more access to Coach K (and USA Basketball).

[DERRENMATTS]

A point that must not be understated. Every young player we draft will have to earn every minute they play, and they'll have to learn to play the right way. And you don't play if you can't contribute. You may be able to do nice things in practice, but if you don't produce in games, you're sitting.

[FLCeltsFan]

Jun 26, 2017 2:29:01 GMT -5 DERRENMATTS said:

A point that must not be understated. Every young player we draft will have to earn every minute they play, and they'll have to learn to play the right way. And you don't play if you can't contribute. You may be able to do nice things in practice, but if you don't produce in games, you're sitting.

I think we saw this clearly with Young, Mickey and Jackson.  They were all given short stints with the parent club and a lot of playing time with the Red Claws and none of them so far have earned further time on the court.  Then you have Jaylen and Rozier and Smart who were able to play their way into the rotation.  Smart didn't always shoot very well but he did so many other things that contribute to winning that he earned playing time.   I had big hopes for Mickey but he just hasn't progressed much. 

[DERRENMATTS]

Which gives us hope for guys like Tatum, Zizic and Ojeleye. If Brad starts playing them, it's because they've earned it, proved it with hard work in practice.

Competition breeds success.

[FLCeltsFan]

Brown made the comment that he was glad that he had to earn everything and nothing was given to him. He felt it made him a better player. Tatum also mentioned that same fact that he was happy to join a team with good players who can teach him and he was was ready to earn his playing time.

[DERRENMATTS]

Another great outcome of this type of environment is you can see who has the dog inside of them; who the real dogs are. If you are a fighter, scrapper, you'll try your hardest to become better and earn playing time.

The non-dogs are the ones who settle and coast and don't rise to the occasion. These guys will eventually get cut (as we've seen with RJ Hunter, and now James Young).

Oh, this is GOOD!!!!