Monday, May 16, 2011

In _____ We Trust

First, a little background: I liked Danny Ainge as a player. I like Danny Ainge as a General Manager. He has done what most Celtic fans thought was impossible after losing the Draft Lottery and missing out on Kevin Durant. He has made basketball relevant again in Boston. He's put together a team that in the last four years has gone to the NBA Finals twice (winning once) and lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals twice. That's an impressive feat considering how far this organization had fallen since the original Big Three. This transformation wasn't easy and took some shrewd moves and a willing partner (a Minnesota GM who shall remain nameless) to make it happen. Really, he was about to hit Bill Belichick status when it came to team building. It was going to be "In Danny We Trust". He was so close. They were about to get the t-shirts made. That's when it happened.

I still remember the shock. I was sitting at my desk monitoring the NBA trade deadline coverage and not expecting very much. The Celtics were on top of the Eastern Conference standings at the time and they really didn't have any pressing needs besides a backup swingman to give Paul and Ray a breather. The general consensus was that they would pick someone up when players started to get bought out. Not a major move. Well, Danny obviously saw a bigger need. He decided that he was going to get a budding star for the future. That's when he made the outrageous decision to trade Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to OKC for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic and a future 1st round pick from the Clippers. Even with the season now over I had to read that sentence three times to make sure I had it right. Danny Ainge traded his starting center for a backup swingman that would play about 20 minutes per game (if he was lucky). It was Insanity. Danny always gave the impression that there was a script he was following. This was not part of the script. The Celtics have three aging stars and it always was about "now". That's the reason Danny has signed veterans to complement his core group over the last fur years. PJ Brown, Sheed, Shaquille, Jermaine, Michael Finley and Delonte were the perfect guys to bring in. Danny wasn't building for the future. He was trying to win now. Isn't it obvious? Well, he changed course with the Perk trade. He looked ahead. He thought getting Jeff Green was more important than winning THIS YEAR. I think he made a huge mistake and cost this team a chance to go further than the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

When the trade was made Danny went on the record (no, not with Greta) and gave his reasoning for the move. Reasoning that he's still defending (and sounding foolish doing it). First, there was Perk's health. At the time he had just injured his other knee and would be out for a couple weeks. Danny also had concerns about his long term health due to the fact that his scowling would put a ridiculous amount of pressure on his facial muscles. Second, the Celtics had offered a four year contract extension that Perk declined because of the dollar figure. This is the first contradiction from Danny. You have concerns about his health, but you offer him a fou year extension? Hmmm, seems strange to me. Moving on. Third, Danny was sure that Shaq would be back soon and Jermaine would be back before the playoffs, adding some big man depth. Also, Danny felt that due to Shaq's age and performance thus far he would be better suited as a starter. Fourth, due to the injury to Marquis Daniels, Danny felt that he needed someone to play meaningful minutes against the likes of Carmelo, LeBron, and hopefully Kobe in the playoffs. As we all know, this was a bunch of crap. The fans may have bought it for a couple games after the trade, but as the season went on and the Celtics lost the top spot in standings it became clear that Danny was the one getting swindled. He was the sucker at the table.

OK, let's look at what happened. Perk went to OKC, missed a handful of games due to the sprained MCL, became a leader in their locker room, and right now is STILL playing in the Western Conference Finals. He seems like the exact same player in OKC that he was here. He's a solid defender that understands his role and is doing the little things that are needed to win, such as getting whistled for moving screens. Sorry, I loved Perk, but the guy had some issues with that. The only thing that matters is winning games and Perk is helping them win games.

Now let's look at how the Celtics faired after the trade. They struggled down the stretch, finished 3rd in the East, and got bounced by the Heat in 5 games. Shaq, who was supposed to be the answer at the center position played 17 minutes, scored 8 points, grabbed 1 rebound, and committed 4 fouls. That's not per game averages. Thats's Shaq contribution after the trade on February 24th. Danny seriously thought that the oldest player in the league was going to be healthy enough to not only start, but play a significant role heading into the playoffs? It's delusional. Jermaine did make it back, but a fractured left wrist rendered him useless versus the Heat. I can give Danny a pass for that one. I've already said my piece on Jeff Green last week I think he was completely overmatched in his matchup with LeBron and he looked extremely timid and uncomfortable in the Celtics offense.

In my humble opinion, Danny's reasoning doesn't cut it. He broke his own rules and tried to justify his move with a bunch of BS. Losing Perk in the middle of the season was a disaster for this team. They relied on him defensively and he was the perfect TEAM guy. He understood his role, unlike Big Baby, who lost his mind over the last 20 games. He also knew all of the offensive and defensive sets (thanks Doc) which none of the new guys knew. He brought a toughness that didn't show up on the stat sheet and Ray Allen will forever be grateful for all of the open looks he got because of Perk. He was the perfect piece for THIS team. Danny took that away.

My crystal ball says that if Perk was here the Celtics would still be playing right now. Had Perk been here the Celtics would have been the 1st or 2nd seed in the East, meaning they would have played the Hawks or had home court against the Heat. Looking at that scenario, the Celtics would have advanced to play the Bulls and who knows what would have happened. I would have liked their chances. Danny just needed to stay the course. He didn't and now we'll never know if this team could've made another deep playoff run like last year. I think KG-Paul-Ray deserved that chance.

One last thing that I forgot to mention. All we heard about after last season's Game 7 loss was they needed more length. So what does Danny do? He brought in Shaq, Jermaine, Semih, and still had Perk and Baby to play the center position. Danny knew that size was needed. He addressed that need to excess. So why do you abandon that idea when the trade deadline approaches? It will never make sense to me. After the trade, the only healthy big man on the team was Krstic. Just an awful decision from a GM that has made so many good ones.

No comments:

Post a Comment