Anyone else feeling like this offseason just, kind of, got away from Danny Ainge?
Ainge, who is the President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics and one of the top executives in all of professional sports, has completely overhauled his roster after going 53-29, finishing with a better regular-season record than the Cleveland Cavaliers and earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Yesterday's blockbuster deal, which sent G Isaiah Thomas, SF Jae Crowder, C Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 unprotected first-round pick to the rival Cavs for G Kyrie Irving, seems awfully one-sided to me.
In my most recent NBA Top 25 article, I ranked Isaiah 10th and Kyrie 9th. While Kyrie has a better pedigree and is actually my favorite basketball player in the world, I think most would agree that there isn't much separating him from Isaiah at this stage in their respective careers.
Last season Kyrie averaged 25.2 points, 5.8 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 2.5 threes and 1.2 steals per game, while shooting 47.3% from the floor, 90.5 from the stripe and 40.1 from beyond the arc. Comparatively, Isaiah posted 28.9, 5.9, 2.7, 3.2, 0.9, 46.3, 90.9 and 37.9. Isaiah finished 5th in the MVP race, while Kyrie failed to pick up a single vote.
Of course, roster circumstances always have to be considered -- Kyrie played second fiddle to LeBron James, while Brad Stevens' offense gave Isaiah the freedom to take whatever shots he wanted, whenever he wanted. And in the postseason, Kyrie has proven that he can be a big-time clutch performer, all the way through the final minute of NBA Finals Game 7.
So, for the sake of moving on, let's just agree that the differences between Kyrie and Isaiah are negligible; therefore, Ainge can make a reasonable argument that Kyrie is the best player in the deal (but you could also argue the other way if you really wanted to).
If Kyrie and Isaiah are close, from a pure basketball standpoint, how did rookie GM Koby Altman also get Crowder and a first-round pick? And we're talking about the Nets' unprotected first rounder, which ultimately results in a lottery selection. That seems like an uneven haul, right?
It's especially bizarre when you consider the fact that Ainge passed on a trade for Jimmy Butler -- one of the top 20 all-around players in the game -- because he didn't want to give up Crowder. So you won't trade him for a bona fide all-star, but you will include him as a throw-in in a deal centered on two players with negligible skillsets? I'm sorry, but you have to admit the logic is fuzzy here.
At this point, I'd like to compare what Ainge had, to what he has now:
HAD: Isaiah, Avery Bradley, Crowder, Al Horford, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart, Amir Johnson, Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Jonas Jerebko and Gerald Green (with Markelle Fultz readily available as the No. 1 pick in the draft).
HAS: Kyrie, Gordon Hayward, Brown, Marcus Morris, Horford, Smart, Jayson Tatum, Rozier and Aron Baynes (without another first-rounder that would have been in the lottery).
So while the second group has intensified Ainge's "star power" with Kyrie and Hayward, the first was deeper, more unselfish and better suited to Stevens' pass-and-cut, Spurs-style offense. In addition, the second group is forcing Ainge to go all-in on "his" handpicked guys, whereas the first had more assets and better long-term flexibility.
And what about the third scenario...the "what if"? I'm not sure if this is financially feasible, but it looks like Ainge could have had:
Isaiah, Butler, Hayward, Morris, Horford and Fultz. I think that's better than Kyrie, Hayward, Brown, Morris, Horford and Tatum, don't you?
At the end of the day, there's good and bad news for Ainge. Here's what I think will happen:
BAD: The Celtics will finish with less regular-season wins than last year. The first half of the season will be particularly frustrating for Boston's fans to watch, as Kyrie and Hayward learn how to play within Stevens' offense and with one another. You know, when the C's are like 10-9 in the early going, that shortsighted fans will be calling for Ainge's head.
GOOD: The Celtics will again meet the Cavs in the East Finals. The rest of the East is simply too weak. What's more, if Kyrie, Hayward, Horford and Morris can develop their collective continuity over the course of the year, this group probably gives Boston a better shot at knocking off the Cavs in the short term.
I still think the Cavs -- with a rotation of Isaiah, LeBron, Crowder, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Derrick Rose and Jeff Green -- will win in 6 games or less, but you know Kyrie will be playing against them with a chip on his shoulder. Ya never know -- he's performed some real magic in the past.
Nevertheless, this article is about the trade itself. The Cavs won the transaction, plain and simple. Crowder and the first-round pick clearly push this deal in their favor, while the Celtics have depleted their assets throughout this bizarre offseason campaign.
Danny Ainge is doing things his way; I just wonder if it's the most prudent way. You have to admire a guy who goes all-in on his instincts.
But then again, the other guy could be holding a royal flush.
HAS: Kyrie, Gordon Hayward, Brown, Marcus Morris, Horford, Smart, Jayson Tatum, Rozier and Aron Baynes (without another first-rounder that would have been in the lottery).
So while the second group has intensified Ainge's "star power" with Kyrie and Hayward, the first was deeper, more unselfish and better suited to Stevens' pass-and-cut, Spurs-style offense. In addition, the second group is forcing Ainge to go all-in on "his" handpicked guys, whereas the first had more assets and better long-term flexibility.
Isaiah, Butler, Hayward, Morris, Horford and Fultz. I think that's better than Kyrie, Hayward, Brown, Morris, Horford and Tatum, don't you?
At the end of the day, there's good and bad news for Ainge. Here's what I think will happen:
BAD: The Celtics will finish with less regular-season wins than last year. The first half of the season will be particularly frustrating for Boston's fans to watch, as Kyrie and Hayward learn how to play within Stevens' offense and with one another. You know, when the C's are like 10-9 in the early going, that shortsighted fans will be calling for Ainge's head.
GOOD: The Celtics will again meet the Cavs in the East Finals. The rest of the East is simply too weak. What's more, if Kyrie, Hayward, Horford and Morris can develop their collective continuity over the course of the year, this group probably gives Boston a better shot at knocking off the Cavs in the short term.
I still think the Cavs -- with a rotation of Isaiah, LeBron, Crowder, Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, JR Smith, Derrick Rose and Jeff Green -- will win in 6 games or less, but you know Kyrie will be playing against them with a chip on his shoulder. Ya never know -- he's performed some real magic in the past.
Nevertheless, this article is about the trade itself. The Cavs won the transaction, plain and simple. Crowder and the first-round pick clearly push this deal in their favor, while the Celtics have depleted their assets throughout this bizarre offseason campaign.
Danny Ainge is doing things his way; I just wonder if it's the most prudent way. You have to admire a guy who goes all-in on his instincts.
But then again, the other guy could be holding a royal flush.
No comments:
Post a Comment