Ainge's comments

[DERRENMATTS]

Can't remember all the details, but there was something written about Ainge saying he would have traded Larry Bird (I guess towards the down end of his career).

Taking that into account, expect to see one of the Trilogy to be traded at some point in the next 2-3 years. Ainge will be looking to get something of value before the members of our Trilogy aren't worth 50 cents on the dollar.

Thinking of the Yankees--they have all of a sudden gone from perennial powerhouses to a rebuilding team with a lack of any young talent. They look to be in bad shape for years to come. Gone are Torre, A-Rod, Posada, Rivera, etc. All they have left is Jeter, and he can't single handedly take the Yanks to the World Series.

Look at the Lakers--I'm sure Kobe is going to be traded. At this point, I think it has to be done to satisfy both parties. There's no way the Lakers amount to anything with what they have now (including Kobe), and there's no way Kobe will be happy playing for a team with no chance to win. But they went from a 3-peating dynasty, to a team without any young talent (aside from Bynum--I like Jordan Farmar, but he's no star player). They are in a rebuilding mode with very few pieces to build around.

At some point, Ainge will realize that he has to get high ceiling young players, and it won't likely happen by drafting late in the rounds. He could trade one of our big pieces in the next couple of years, while they are still playing at a high level, in order to get a strong young piece.

[cfoo]

Could you imagine Bird playing for another team? That would have been weird.

[DERRENMATTS]

No, I absolutely would not want to see Bird in any other uniform but ours.

But can you see how Ainge conducts business?. He would have traded Bird because he knew Bird still had value, and he would have rather gotten quality players in return, rather than have Bird wind down his career without getting anything in return. That seems to be how Ainge conducts his business.

If he would have traded Bird, then I don't see why he won't trade RAllen or Pierce or KG.

[cfoo]

That's true. And yes I do see. And htat's the smart way to do it. The thing is Pierce is in his prime for hte next 3 years.. Garnett the same. Allen has a couple very good years left before he starts his decline. I think it's 3 years before we even start talking about it. Maybe after this year and next he might talk about trade Ray Allen. Who knows. The thing with Ray Allen is I think he's kind of an enigma who could potentially play at a high level until he's 37. I dont see any of these guys really declining for another 3 years at least.

[DERRENMATTS]

KG has the most value, obviously, but he's the only star big man we have. I don't think Ainge would trade away KG without getting a young big man in return. It could come down to Pierce or RAllen, and whoever has the better value in 2 - 3 years may be the one to be traded.

I highly doubt Ainge leaves this organization in a position of gloom once the Trilogy starts to wind down. He'll bring in highly talented young players to take the mantle before then. Right now, no one on our roster really stands out as Top 20 player, so Ainge has work to do.

[FLCeltsFan]

Bird had said several times that if he was traded he would retire. He didn't want to play for any other franchise. It may have been all talk, or knowing Larry, he was probabaly telling the truth.

[DERRENMATTS]

I would have wanted him to go out that way too. I can't imagine Bird in any other uniform.

[freshnthehouse]

I wouldnt say the Yankees dont have any young talent, Wang and Cano are both above producing at good levels at the pros, and Chamberlain and Hughes are monster pitching prospects.

[DERRENMATTS]

But not the type of big named players who are going to take the Yankees to the top again.

[freshnthehouse]

derrenmatts said:

But not the type of big named players who are going to take the Yankees to the top again.

Hughes may be the best pitching prospect in the majors. Dude is gonna be special. And Chamberlain has ace potential as well.

[Roadrunner]

Based on Danny's tenure, he rides out the Big 3 as long as he can.

[DERRENMATTS]

roadrunner said:

Based on Danny's tenure, he rides out the Big 3 as long as he can.

I say based on Ainge's tenure, he's going to trade away part of the Trilogy in the not so distant future.

[findawgg]

As much as it pains me to say it, the Yanks have some talent to build around. I understand why Ainge said what he said, but I have my doubts as to the motivation that lead to the comments.

--Fin

[cfoo]

Towards the end of Bird's career there was a lot of inner turmoil between Bird and the organization. I think Bird wanted a lot of things and the organization wasn't willing to give it to him for a lot of reasons. But Bird always struck me no matter how great a team player he was on the court, as kind of out on an island by himself off of it. Bird I think was a guy who a leader because he wouldn't play second fiddle to anyone. I think Ainge is a better GM and coach for that reason, because he is a roleplayer. You rarely see star players become great GM's for that reason, because their ego gets in the way. Jerry West is an enigma and the only one I can think of but he was more of a great great roleplayer. If you look at most good GM's they were roleplayers and the better the roleplayer the better the GM. There is a reason for that. While guys like Bird and Isiah are busy stepping on each others toes, the better GM's are guys like Ainge and Paxson and Dumars.

[freshnthehouse]

Jerry West was an unreal player. Check out his numbers. If they would've had three pointers back in the day, who knows how many points he'd have by now?

But yeah, I think you really see superstar players struggle in other NBA related roles, especially coaching.