A bird in hand is worth two in the bush so the ancient Greek proverb reads. Ain't that the truth.
Wow, did Danny Ainge blow one with this Gordon Hayward situation. Double wow!
If you are to believe the report Friday night from the Boston Globe's Gary Washburn (and I have no reason not to), then Celtics Nation has every reason to angrily question Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge today and in perpetuity for this one.
Put me in the front row of this angry mob.
I roasted some NBA rumor mill Web sites in my column on Thursday regarding the nonsensical trade fodder surrounding Jaylen Brown, but it's only credible sources on this one guys. First from NBA newsbreaker Sham Charania of The Athletic, reporting on Hayward being 'fully focused on signing with Indiana' then with Washburn's report of the last minute sign and trade opportunity gifted to Boston as NBA Free Agency commenced at roughly 6 p.m. Friday.
As Washburn reported it, the Indiana Pacers offered the Celtics starting center Myles Turner and sharpshooter Doug McDermott (Dougie McBuckets), giving them the financial roster ability to get their desired target, Hayward signed. At that very moment Ainge needed to hit the accept button on that one and do so without delay. That would have been the competent move. However, Ainge did delay and in the internal battle between Ainge's greed and need to win the deal versus the desperate need for decisive and competent deal making both sides lost.
And all of Celtics Nation lost too. Let's break it down.
Awareness, greed and competence. That's what this situation is all about.
Let's start with awareness. I wrestled in high school and when you were in trouble in a match the coach would yell from the sideline "know where you are!" That meant, if you were close to getting out of bounds, try to do so and reset. In terms of understanding where the Celtics were in the Hayward sweepstakes/situation, Ainge clearly didn't understand exactly where he was. Indiana had leverage. Hayward had leverage. The Celtics were lucky to still be a potential benefactor in the situation. Yet, it was reported that Ainge was holding out for more. Huh?
By Thursday, Hayward had already opted out of his contract. He was a free agent, open to sign anywhere he could (as we all experienced on Saturday when signing with Charlotte). He was no longer truly Celtics property. At best he was a fleeting asset with a ticking clock in terms of the Celtics dealings with him. There was exactly one deal to be made, the deal offered and gifted to them by Indiana. The deal just wasn't enough to satisfy Ainge's desires though. Know where you are? Not a clue. At least not on this one and that leads us to greed.
Nobody likes to lose a deal. I get it and looking at it linearly, Hayward would have been the best player in the deal, I guess. There are so many factors in this specific transaction though that fly in the face of Ainge's burning need to get the best player in the deal.
That instinct to get the best player in the deal, usually serves Ainge and his Celtics well, but this time, asking for Victor Oladipo for example was both greedy and incompetent. Hey Danny, heads up, you didn't have the leverage in this deal to make that stance.
First of all, Hayward had opted out of his Celtics contract. Note to the Celtics, because of that fact, you were lucky to be in the conversation on Friday night in the first place. Again, know where you are. Second, you had literally no other tangible options to acquire talent related to moving off of Hayward, so frankly, push greed aside, seeking more in the deal seems pretty delusional actually.
Which leads me to competence. Ainge has been more than competent in his tenure leading the Celtics, no doubt there. I support most of his decision making over the last two decades. I'm not talking about his full resume though, I'm talking about this specific deal. It was an abject failure based on lack of awareness, a burning need to have to win every deal (greed) and truly a lack of competence. You need to understand your position in every deal and then act accordingly.
Ainge failed in all three of these areas on this one and thus an opportunity was lost. A good opportunity by the way, because both Turner and McBuckets could have helped this team in 2021 and beyond. The Indiana Pacers saw that clearly and made a reasonable offer, while Ainge apparently did not.
Lesson learned ... hopefully.
