Danny Ainge Played the Off-Season Perfectly

Despite not landing Kevin Durant, Danny Ainge put together a near flawless off-season

There was a lot of hype surrounding the Boston Celtics entering the off-season. While no blockbuster trades took place, Danny Ainge quietly put together a near flawless summer.

Yes, the Celtics missed out on Kevin Durant, but they were seen as a long shot to begin with. No one expected Durant to give a second thought about joining the Celtics, yet they were one of his three finalists.

The fact that Boston was one of his finalists was reason enough to congratulate Ainge on his presentation. Simply finishing third in the Durant sweepstakes isn’t what everyone was hoping for, and isn’t the mentality the Celtics should be going in with next summer, but it’s a positive sign for next year.

From the looks of it, Ainge had a near perfect presentation for Durant. He tried to sign Al Horford the day before to have him fly out to the Hamptons with them. Even though he failed to do so, Horford committed to Boston the next day, during their meeting. Maybe it was by pure luck, but it was the perfect timing.

Not to mention Ainge also brought Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder, and, of course, Patriots star quarterback Tom Brady. While the great Bill Russell was absent, Ainge pulled out the big guns with Brady, and David Ortiz tweeting at Durant later that night. When looking at everything Ainge did to make Boston look as appealing as possible, it’s hard to fault him on anything when it comes to the Durant meeting.

As far as the draft, a lot of hate was thrown around. It seemed that Ainge reached on a couple of picks, and failing to make a blockbuster trade didn’t sit well with everyone. Even though a report by K.C. Johnson made it evident that the Celtics lowballed the Chicago Bulls for Jimmy Butler, Ainge insisted he didn’t get any real offers all night.

For as annoying as not landing a star was, Ainge stuck to his plan and didn’t budge. Yes, they could’ve offered more for Butler, but that wasn’t his plan. You can’t fault him for sticking to his plan because maybe bigger things are in store.

Although it seemed like the Celtics had a weak draft, Ainge put it best when asked about Jaylen Brown, stating, “Just give the kid a chance.” He drafted who he felt was the next best available player, and only time will tell if he made a mistake. However, after watching his first Summer League game, Brown could be in store for big things with Boston.

Also, the Celtics were able to deal two second rounders – despite it being a questionable trade – and left the draft with both NBA-ready and raw, high-potential players. The worry going in was the Celtics would draft too many international players, or they’d add too many rookies to their roster and have even more of a logjam than last season.

Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

They ended up with an expected bench player this season in Jaylen Brown, and two international bigs who could turn out to be steals in a couple of seasons. Not to mention their late second round steals, when they drafted first round talents Demetrius Jackson and Ben Bentil.

Only time will tell how they turn out, but Ainge was able to keep both Brooklyn picks – which seems to be a goal of his – and fill a need. He could have opted towards drafting Kris Dunn to entice the Philadelphia 76ers or Bulls into a trade later in the summer, but he didn’t take the chance and went with the better fit.

When it came to free agency, Ainge couldn’t have played it any better. As previously noted, he did everything he could to attract Durant, but he simply didn’t want to play in Boston.

A big unmentioned move Ainge was able to pull off was when he agreed to move the deadline to guarantee Amir Johnson and Jonas Jerebko‘s contracts back to July 7. The date for the Celtics to decide whether to guarantee the contracts of Johnson and Jerebko was originally July 3, however they still hadn’t heard from Durant or Horford. Moving them back allowed them to continue to go after both free agents with enough money to offer them each a max contract, and still have solid backup options if one of them fell through.

Now, Ainge will be able to bring back a player who started 76 games for them last year and a three-point shooting big who was an X-factor in their series against the Hawks. Not to mention that both are bargains under the new salary cap.

Johnson will be making $12 million next season – second highest on the team. It was near impossible to find a solid bench player, let alone a starter in the front court, who would have accepted $12 million. In fact, Ian Mahinmi, who put up similar numbers to Johnson, signed a four-year, $64 million deal with the Washington Wizards this summer (16M per year).

More from Hardwood Houdini

While that’s the going rate, Johnson gives you similar production at a cheaper cost, and doesn’t impact their future plans. With the 2017 free agency class the best in years, the Celtics will once again be one of the biggest spenders. Ainge could have settled for a mid-tier player this summer once missing out on Durant, but he aimed high and went 1-for-2, but didn’t put their future plans in jeopardy.

After everything that happened this summer, the Celtics still landed a star in Al Horford, have enough assets to make a blockbuster trade, and could possibly land the number one pick in the next two drafts. Not to mention that they brought back nearly the entire 48-win team they had last year, except they upgraded their front court and opened up minutes for their young back court.

After Evan Turner signed a much-deserved, luxurious four-year, $70 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, it was clear what Ainge’s plan is. He doesn’t want to stay in the middle of the East, he wants to compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers sooner than later.

Next: Is Jae Crowder a Star?

Even though Turner was a huge part of their team last season, he knew a sixth man wasn’t worth that type of money and didn’t lock the Celtics up for next summer. Rather than just looking at this upcoming season, Ainge, as always, made the best moves for the future, and the future is looking very bright.

Home/Celtics News