Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge is to blame for the team's struggles

The Boston Celtics have no one else to blame other than Danny Ainge.

I’m sorry to say it Boston Celtics fans, the championship window has closed for the time being. The Celtics find themselves searching for answers as they sit at .500 on the season while suffering some of the worst losses of the year, dropping games to Detroit, Washington, and Atlanta.

You could blame the players or the coaching staff for how the season has gone, but I think the true culprit is much higher up.

Danny Ainge is who I believe is fully responsible for what is transpiring with the Celtics. Ainge’s whiffs and greed have finally caught up to him and the result is what you see on the court with the Boston Celtics.

The issues of the Boston Celtics

Let’s start with their recent draft picks. Ainge had amassed lottery picks from teams in hopes he could strike gold once again as he did with the Brooklyn trade. The Nets trade was almost eight years ago and Ainge still revels in it to this day. Unfortunately for the Celtics, the picks haven’t fallen the same way, always ending up in the back half of the lottery.

The recent selections have even been very questionable. Since Ainge drafted Jayson Taytum in 2017 he really hasn’t hit on any picks. Instead of using his picks to trade up in the draft to take a shot at a potentially higher level player, he has had to draft players that haven’t really contributed much in the Celtics lineup or even been a good fit. Robert Williams, Grant Williams, and Payton Pritchard are all decent players but aren’t what the Celtics need at this time.

Romeo Langford has yet to show he can play well in an NBA rotation. The Celtics even traded away Matisse Thybulle for Carsen Edwards on draft night. two years ago. Ainge even did the same with Desmond Bane this past draft, who is playing at a higher level than any Celtics rookie this season.

Next is the whole Gordon Hayward situation. It’s laughable how Danny Ainge played this. The haul they got for Gordon Hayward departing was a measly second-round pick and a trade exception worth $28.5 million. They also had to give away two future second-round picks in the process.

Now if you’re a Celtics fan would you rather have the exception and a second-round pick for losing Hayward or would you rather have the package of Myles Turner, Doug McDermott, and a first-round pick? This was Indiana’s offer to Boston but, Ainge insisted that the Pacers included either Victor Oladipo or TJ Warren in the abovementioned trade package.

I understand not wanting to send Hayward to an Eastern Conference rival, but turning down that trade makes absolutely no sense to me. The Celtics already knew Hayward was walking and instead of not only filling a position of need for your team but receive the perfect player offered to you to fit your system. In the end, Ainge chose to take the alternate route and let him walk for a mere trade exception.

Depending on what the Celtics do with this exception will make or break the trade. I’m not sure what Ainge has in mind for what will happen with that, but I think I’d rather have Turner and McDermott at this point. Enjoying watching Andre Drummond Celtics fans.

Next. The New York Knicks aren’t going away; could they be a playoff team?. dark

Do I think Danny Ainge is a terrible GM and should be fired? Absolutely not, that would be a ludicrous statement to make. All I’m saying is that if Celtics fans want someone to point the finger at, use as a scapegoat for the team’s recent struggles you should look no further than the man at the top. The Boston Celtics are still a good team, especially in the Eastern Conference, but the window for contention has closed for now.

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Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge is to blame for the team’s struggles

By Brendan Purdue | Feb 18, 2021

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The issues of the Boston Celtics