Danny Ainge may not be ready to admit that his team’s title hopes have hit rock bottom, but the holes dug by Crater Danny are doing a proper homage to Boston’s winter pothole tradition.
Another late game fade by the Celtics in Dallas on Tuesday night sank the C’s record subterranean at 15-16, with losses in seven of their past 10. And one of Danny’s biggest divots yawning in the pavement wasn’t even on display in the game, rather it was revealed in a recent bit of reporting from FS1’s NBA analyst Rich Bucher.
“A lot of GMs are ticked off at Danny [Ainge] because Danny tried like hell to move Kemba [Walker] at the beginning of the year knowing that his knee wasn’t right,” Bucher said recently on Colin Cowherd’s podcast. “He was trying to get rid of damaged goods.”
Making personnel mistakes are one thing, but trying to fool other teams by concealing medical information? Ainge is in desperation mode.
In a way, the panic is understandable. Ainge’s cap space is gone, his treasure trove of extra first-round picks spent, and by the sound of it the knee of his marquee 2019 free agent signing is damaged beyond repair.
This is the same Kemba Walker who is due salaries north of $36 and $37 million each of the next two seasons. Untradeable, unless the MRI’s are fudged. Currently shooting a career-worst 37 percent from the field.
Is this panic and pressure what drove Ainge to hand Brad Stevens that inexplicable contract extension last August before the NBA’s bubble playoffs? What was the rush?
I can only think now Ainge decided that 2020 would be his best chance for a while to get that elusive Banner 18 - with Gordon Hayward still in the mix - and he took a gamble that giving a vote of confidence in the coach would inspire the troops.
Instead, it turned into a playoff run more noteworthy for locker room turmoil, and the season ended with Hayward leaving his college coach behind. The Celtics now have a bench boss that the remaining players appear to be tuning out, manifesting in a 2021 season littered with blown leads. Where is the passion and urgency?
Then again, if Ainge really did believe in the ‘20 team, why did the artist formerly known as Trader Danny do nothing at last year’s deadline, with names like Clint Capela dissipating into the talk show ether?
One thing is for sure, Ainge’s most recent offseason is now an unmitigated disaster. Additions Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague do not qualify as impactful, and depth is as big of an issue as it was in the ‘20 postseason (see bench points in Tuesday’s win, Dallas 51 - Boston 19). Hayward brought no concrete return when it appears Boston got greedy in dealings with Indiana. Instead of adding Myles Turner, Green Teamers are left to hope Ainge has one more rabbit to pull out of a hat with the mystical Trade Exception. Except maybe someone else should be called upon to perform the trick.
Ainge’s recent draft history has more misses (Romeo Langford, Grant Williams, Tremont Waters, Semi Ojeleye) than hits (Payton Pritchard, Robert Williams). The book is still out on Aaron Nesmith, but passing on Saddiq Bey is a book that is in and not a good read for Danny.
All-in-all the C’s product that Ainge has assembled has dropped recent games to Detroit, Washington, Atlanta, New Orleans, and Dallas, teams with a combined winning percentage of 41%.
In speaking with the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaughnessey recently, Ainge was a man without answers. “Just changing faces doesn’t always change things but it may have to come to that.”
Ainge continued, “I don’t think it’s rock bottom, because we’re not healthy, we’re not playing well, and we’re young. Rock bottom would be if we expected to win a playoff series and lost to a team we were supposed to beat. That would be rock bottom.”
Celtics ownership is ultimately going to be the judge where that bedrock is, but to me it feels like it’s arrived. This team is not a title contender, nor does the current team leadership appear to have the answers or ability to turn it into one. After 18 years at the helm, it appears it is time for a new set of eyes atop the franchise.
It’s time for Celtics ownership to dial DPW and properly fill in some holes. It’s time for Danny Ainge to go.