Ainge's Tenure Could Be Short

[wayray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Here's hoping Ainge trades Pierce and causes a total Media Meltdown...

Derek Gentile
Berkshire Eagle

Our final discourse is in connection with the Boston Celtics. I won't pass judgment on what Boston General Manager Danny Ainge has done -- yet. But this is Boston. And if Ainge tears the team down in 2003-04, he'd better have some semblance of a contender by 2004-05. That may seem unusually harsh, but that is the way the game is played in Boston. 
The question, of course, is, does that seem possible, given what Ainge has done to date? Ah, well, the answer, right now, is no. Unlike a very critical Boston media, I think Ainge has a plan, but it's a 1990-style plan. I don't believe a team can lose a lot of games and expect to make it all up in the draft. There are 30 teams in the NBA now. But the talent level in 2004 is not much more improved than it was in, say 1974, when there were 16 teams. Thus, it takes twice as long to circulate through the draft, reducing the number of available good players. 
Boston has a shot at one and maybe two good players in the draft. But there are no LeBron James-type studs looming out there, at least none I can see. At the other end of this equation, the NBA's salary cap prevents most teams from signing more than one major free agent. And in Boston's case, a Kobe Bryant-style free agent would be well over the team's cap. So there won't be a lot of help there, either. 
Finally, the departure of one of the best coaches in the NBA was just plain stupid. Jim O'Brien is a superb teacher and communicator, on the level of a Phil Jackson. You do not -- I repeat, do not -- let guys of that quality go. 
Will Boston fans, the media and the Celtic administration stand for a 30-win season next year, which is what is looming this year? I say no. Which means the Ainge Experiment may be a short one, and his tenure may be as well.