Ainge Not Done Dealing

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

True, but before the trading deadline?

Ainge has taken charge in Boston 
By Terry Brown NBA Insider 	Wednesday, December 17 Updated: December 17 12:18 PM ET 	
As much as it might hurt Antoine Walker to hear and head coach Jim O'Brien to say, the Boston Celtics now undeniably belong to Danny Ainge, and there isn't anything anyone can do about it except sit back and wait for the next move. 
That's right . . . the next move. 
"Unless you have the guts to make decisions that are unpopular with your coach or with the fans or the media, then you don't deserve the director of basketball operations," O'Brien said in defense of Ainge in the Boston Herald. "He's not having a problem making tough decisions. Are we closer to being a better basketball team as a result of the trades he has made? My answer is absolutely." 
In case you've lost track, in less than one season, Ainge has completely revamped the Celtic roster by trading away Antoine Walker, Tony Delk, Eric Williams, Tony Battie and Kedrick Brown. In exchange, he got Ricky Davis, Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch, Chris Mihm, Chris Mills, Michael Stewart, a 2004 first-round pick and a 2004 second-round pick. 
But if you thought it was hard reading all those names, imagine how hard it is for O'Brien to figure out his new offensive and defensive schemes as well as substitution patterns and seating charts on the plane, etcetera. 
So don't think this has been easy for anyone. 
"Once you get in the fray and you're with guys every day and you're fighting your butts off and you challenge a group of guys that are 7-12 and you see them respond at a level that is wonderful," said O'Brien in the Boston Globe. "You see how happy they are with themselves and you see the effort and guys playing hurt. Then, all of a sudden, when three guys are leaving you, you'd be the coldest guy in the world not to think, `Gee, this hurts. It hurts them. It hurts us.' It's painful." 
But make no mistake about it. This is what Ainge wanted and this is what Ainge got. And O'Brien is siding with Ainge. 
"I thought it was the best thing for Antoine Walker, considering the team he was going to, and I thought it was the best thing for the Boston Celtics, thinking about where we wanted to grow this to," O'Brien said. 
"We wanted more movement in our offense, and having understood that we were not going to (extend) Antoine this year and all the ramifications of that -- both from his standpoint and my standpoint in coaching this basketball team -- I really thought at that time it was going to be the best for all parties. And I think I'm right." 
And to make it perfectly clear . . . 
"I expressed the opinion to Danny when all the cards were on the table and we knew we were getting Raef, and I knew how high Danny was on Jiri, and we were getting a first (round draft pick) and we'd have some money to maybe pick up somebody -- and wanting Antoine to succeed, and know that he was going to Don Nelson and that group -- I thought it was a win-win. That's what I expressed. 
"I think that this team in the long run needed some big-time changes. Was it easy for me to have big changes at this point in time? No, because you're involved. And I don't apologize for the passion that we are involved with. 
"But in order for us to compete year in and year out for an Eastern Conference championship, there had to be some drastic changes made. And there probably has to be some more changes made. I think the team Danny has put together, when all is said and done this year, is going to be very, very difficult to guard, and, if I have my way, will be difficult to (score) against." 
Did you get that last part? 
Despite the fact that the Celtics have traded away five players who totaled 49.1 points, 24.6 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 4.6 steals and 2.1 blocks per game last season, they still might not be done. 
To put that in perspective in terms of quality, Walker being an all-star, and in terms of quantity, those five players averaged 136 minutes of a 240-minute game, the Celtics have done away with 53 percent of their points, 60 percent of their rebounds, 51 percent of their assists, 52 percent of their steals and 57 percent of their blocks. 
But they've still got the same coach and, like it or not, they've still got the same guy pulling all the strings. 
"It is what it is," O'Brien said of he and Ainge. "He and I are in a partnership, and we have our jobs to do. He's doing his very well, and I hope he thinks that I'm doing my job very well. When he came he said we need to be more athletic, we need more scorers, we need more guys who know how to play basketball. He was very straightforward. He said, 'I'm going to change things around.' And I welcome the change. I had no idea that as we made these changes there might be a day like yesterday, but that shouldn't stop him from doing his job and being objective." 
And then he said it again. 
"I'd call it a building project," said O'Brien. "When [Ainge] came in, he said, 'We need to be more athletic. We need more scorers. We need more guys who know how to play basketball.' He was very straightforward. He said, 'I'm going to change things around.' I welcomed the change. I had no idea that as we made these changes that there might be a day like [Monday], where it was painful to a certain extent. But that shouldn't stop him from doing his job and being objective -- I think he made the right decision."