With last week’s trade of Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks, the Boston Celtics shed themselves of the last remaining player from the 2008 NBA Finals champions, and in doing so proved two things:
1. For better or for worse, loyalty means nothing to Danny Ainge; and
2. The Boston Celtics are the exact opposite of the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs.
The first item should not be a surprise to anyone who has followed the Celtics for more than the month of December. I never had a problem with the Celtics shipping Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn, but trading the team captain, Paul Pierce, was never something I agreed with, even if it did set up the team up for some successful NBA drafts. The Truth showed a lot of loyalty to Boston, remaining a member of the Celtics even when the team was terrible, but his wishes to retire a Celtic didn’t register with Ainge, who famously said he would have traded Larry Bird.
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Like I said: none of this comes as a surprise, and many would argue that since the NBA is a business, and since teams need to place winning games and ultimately hardware and banners over loyalty to individual players, Ainge is simply a shrewd businessman, making decisions based on what is best for the team, rather than sentiment.
Flying in the face of that argument, however, is the NBA’s gold standard, the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs have proven that a franchise CAN remain loyal to core players, use low draft picks wisely in order to acquire role players and in some case sleepers who blossom into All-Star talent, and heavily scout overseas talent, all while maintaining a level of excellence that rivals the best dynasties the NBA has ever seen.
Let’s take a look at some fun facts regarding the Spurs – here, I’ll make it look official!
San Antonio Spurs vs. Boston Celtics: Fun Facts Courtesy of Wikipedia and NBA.com
– In the 38 seasons that have followed the ABA-NBA merger that brought the Spurs into the league (1976), the Spurs have won 20 division titles. The Celtics have won 17 in that span.
– The Spurs have missed the playoffs only four times since joining the league; since 1976, the Boston Celtics have missed the playoffs 12 times.
– The Spurs have made the playoffs 24 times out of the last 25 seasons; the Celtics, 15.
– The Spurs have enjoyed 15 straight 50+ win seasons; the Celtics enjoyed ten similar years, from 1958-1968, and only enjoyed four straight 50+ win seasons with Rondo, Pierce, and Garnett (2007-2011).
– Since 2004 (the year in which Danny Ainge was brought on as President of Basketball Operations), the Spurs have made it to the NBA Finals four times and won three; the Celtics have made it twice and won once.
For those of you keeping score, the Spurs also have not traded Tim Duncan, Tony Parker or Manu Ginobli since winning the Larry O’Brien trophy in 2007. We all know what the Celtics have done with the players who won that hardware just a year later.
The current Boston Celtics seem to feel that there are only two ways to build a championship team: draft high, and make big trades. (I would say that the Cs favor bringing in big-name free agents, as well, but that has not really worked for them lately.) Meanwhile, since drafting Tim Duncan first in the 1997 draft, the San Antonio Spurs’ highest draft pick was the 20th pick in the 2010 draft. Curious as to when Ginobli, Parker, Tiago Splitter, and Kawhi Leonard were drafted? 57th, 28th, 28th, and 15th (Leonard was acquired via a trade with the Indiana Pacers).
As for free agents . . . well, the Spurs did sign Danny Green in 2011 and Boris Diaw in 2012. Season after season, the Spurs eschew over-paying for a superstar and instead find quality players who will fit relatively seamlessly into their system. Meanwhile, Boston is jettisoning contracts with the hope of swinging for the fences this offseason.
The Point Of All This?
Before Rondo got shipped out to Big D, I had written that I felt he and the Celtics would benefit from a divorce. Rondo just was not playing at a high enough level to justify bringing him back with a max salary – that was painfully clear for everyone to see. (Don’t believe me? Read this piece by Jackie Mac!) Still, it’s not possible for me to explain WHY Rondo’s game was off this season. Did watching the Celtics draft his successor, Marcus Smart, hurt his feelings? Did constantly hearing his name being mentioned in trade rumors solidify his belief that Danny Ainge had no intention of re-signing him next summer? I can’t speak to any of that, and I can’t tell you that Rondo would have played better if Boston had drafted differently.
I’m just here to say that the Boston Celtics’ current approach is at odds with that of the NBA’s best team, which is , well, odd. You would think that more teams would be looking to copy what San Antonio has done, not run away from it – yet here the Celtics are, running toward the draft and jettisoning all of its experienced players with the hopes that somehow they will raise banner 18 to the roof in the near future.
Seems like a curious decision, to me.