Boston Celtics: Danny Ainge’s last run isn’t how he should be remembered

Remembering the bad from Danny Ainge’s run with the Boston Celtics

Whether or not it was a good trade, moving on from Antoine Walker so suddenly was not popular at the time. Walker felt like a potential building block and sending him to the Dallas Mavericks (along with Tony Delk) for a late first-round pick, Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills and Jiri Welsch.

Trading Kendrick Perkins at the deadline in 2011 marked the true end of the ubuntu era. Perkins and Robinson were sent to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green, Nenad Krstic, two first-round picks and a second-round pick. This was meant to extend the title window of the Big 3 but the drop from the defensive presence of Perkins fractured the locker room. Those picks did not turn out well, resulting in the like of Fab Melo. Green missed his first full season in Boston due to a heart condition.

Finally, the trade for Kyrie Irving was contentious at the time due to the love the fans had built for Isaiah Thomas. In terms of on-court talent, the deal was a no-brainer, further cemented by the deteriorating health of Thomas. But the karmic reaction to this move is still being felt to this day., It was a heartless move to dump a player who gave his health to push for the franchise, coming back a day after the passing of his sister to play through injury and heartache.

Much will be made about the trades that could have happened but did not, but even those are split into good and bad. Trading for Jimmy Butler, Paul George or Kawhi Leonard would have been good in the short term but would have cost the pick that became Tatum or Brown while only being a (likely) short-term rental. Offering four first-round picks for Justise Winslow is a bullet dodged. The clear fact is none of this is easy.