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Draft History: Danny Ainge

June 23rd, 2015 at 9:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2015 NBA draft is just two days away, and the speculation as to which player each franchise will pin its hopes on for the future is nearly over. Of course, having one of the top selections in any draft doesn’t guarantee that a team will snag a future All-Star. Team executives and scouts still have the difficult task of making the correct call with their picks.

With this in mind we at Hoops Rumors have been taking a look back at the draft history of the primary basketball executive for each NBA team. Their names, reputations, and possibly employment will be on the line as a result of the decisions to come on June 25th, and we’ve been examining what they’ve done in previous years in charge of a club’s front office. Note that many of them have played other sorts of roles within a team’s executive structure, but this won’t take that into account. We’ll continue onward with a look back at the calls made by Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.

Celtics (May 2003-Present)

2003 Draft

No. 13 Overall — Marcus Banks*: 348 games, 5.9 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 2.1 APG. .432/.327/.768.
N0. 27 Overall — Kendrick Perkins*: 744 games, 5.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.2 BPG. .530/.000/.597.
No. 56 Overall — Brandon Hunter: 67 games, 3.3 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.3 APG. .476/.000/.488.

*Acquired from Grizzlies in exchange for the No. 16 overall pick (Troy Bell) and the No. 20 overall pick (Dahntay Jones).

Notable players available: David West (No. 18), Steve Blake (No. 38), Mo Williams (No. 47), and Kyle Korver (No. 51).

2004 Draft

No. 15 Overall — Al Jefferson: 766 games, 17.0 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 1.6 APG. .499/.129/.710.
No. 24 Overall — Delonte West: 432 games, 9.7 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 3.6 APG. .448/.372/.826.
No. 25 Overall — Tony Allen: 663 games, 8.1 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 1.4 APG. .479/.271/.723.
No. 40 Overall — Justin Reed: 136 games, 3.5 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.5 APG. .404/.000/.752.

Notable players available: J.R. Smith (No. 18), Jameer Nelson (No. 20), Kevin Martin (No. 26), Anderson Varejao (No. 30), and Trevor Ariza (No. 43).

2005 Draft

No. 18 Overall — Gerald Green: 428 games, 10.2 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.0 APG. .425/.368/.818.
No. 50 Overall — Ryan Gomes: 487 games, 10.1 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.5 APG. .445./.349/.799.
No. 53 Overall — Orien Greene: 131 games, 2.5 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.2 APG. .387/.212/.642.

Notable players available: David Lee (No. 30), Monta Ellis (No. 40), Louis Williams (No. 45), and Marcin Gortat (No. 57).

2006 Draft

No. 21 Overall — Rajon Rondo*: 573 games, 10.8 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 8.3 APG. .470/.263/.609.
No. 49 Overall — Leon Powe**: 239 games, 6.2 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 0.3 APG. .515/.000/.682.

*Acquired from the Suns along with Brian Grant in exchange for a 2007 first round pick (Rudy Fernandez).

**Acquired from Nuggets in exchange for a 2007 second-rounder (Aaron Gray).

***Traded the No. 7 overall pick (Randy Foye), Dan Dickau, and Raef LaFrentz in exchange for Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and a 2008 second round pick (Trent Plaisted).

Notable players available: Rudy Gay (No. 8), J.J. Redick (No. 11), Kyle Lowry (No. 24), and Paul Millsap (No. 47).

2007 Draft

No. 32 Overall — Gabe Pruitt: 62 games, 2.0 PPG, 0.8 RPG, 0.8 APG. .321/.283/.783.
No. 35 Overall — Glen Davis*: 514 games, 8.0 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 0.9 APG. .447/.182/.700.

*Acquired from the Thunder along with Ray Allen in exchange for the No. 5 overall pick (Jeff Green), Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and Plaisted.

Notable players available: Joakim Noah (No. 9), Thaddeus Young (No. 12), Arron Afflalo (No. 27), Carl Landry (No. 31), Josh McRoberts (No. 37), and Marc Gasol (No. 48).

2008 Draft

No. 30 Overall — J.R. Giddens: 38 games, 1.9 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.3 APG. .476/.000/.565.
No. 60 Overall — Semih Erden: 69 games, 3.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.4 BPG. .546/.000/.594.

Notable players available: DeAndre Jordan (No. 35), Omer Asik (No. 36), and Goran Dragic (No. 45).

2009 Draft

No. 58 Overall — Lester Hudson: 57 games, 4.7 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 1.2 APG. .375/.277/.806.

*First round pick, No. 28 overall, owned by Wolves and used to select Wayne Ellington.

Notable players available: Patrick Beverley (No. 42), Danny Green (No. 46), and Patty Mills (No. 55).

2010 Draft

No. 19 Overall — Avery Bradley: 282 games, 10.5 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 1.5 APG. .434/.360/.781.
No. 52 Overall — Luke Harangody: 70 games, 3.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 0.5 APG. .376/.241/.737.

Notable players available: Hassan Whiteside (No. 33) and Lance Stephenson (No. 40).

2011 Draft

No. 27 Overall — JaJuan Johnson*: 36 games, 3.2 PPG, 1.6 RPG, 0.4 BPG. .446/.000/.667.
No. 55 Overall — E’Twaun Moore: 248 games, 5.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 1.6 APG. .411/.349/.766.

*Acquired from the Nets along with a 2014 second round pick in exchange for the No. 25 overall pick (MarShon Brooks).

Notable players available: Jimmy Butler (No. 30), Chandler Parsons (No. 35), and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60).

2012 Draft

No. 21 Overall — Jared Sullinger: 177 games, 11.4 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 1.6 APG. .440/.275/.762.
No. 22 Overall — Fab Melo: 6 games, 1.2 PPG, 0.5 RPG, 0.3 BPG. .500/.000/.250.
No. 51 Overall — Kris Joseph: 10 games, 0.9 PPG, 0.7 RPG, 0.1 APG. .143/.000/.625.

Notable players available: Draymond Green (No. 35) and Khris Middleton (No. 39).

2013 Draft

No. 13 Overall — Kelly Olynyk*: 134 games, 9.4 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 1.6 APG. .471/.349/.744.
Second round pick owned by the Trail Blazers, used to select Marko Todorovic.

*Acquired from Mavericks in exchange for the No. 16 overall pick (Lucas Nogueira) and 2 future second-rounders.

Notable players available: Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 15) and Rudy Gobert (No. 27).

2014 Draft

No. 6 Overall — Marcus Smart: 67 games, 7.8 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 3.1 APG. .367/.335/.646.
No. 17 Overall — James Young: 31 games, 3.4 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 0.4 APG. .353/.258/.552.
Second round pick owned by Knicks, used to select Cleanthony Early.

Notable players available: Elfrid Payton (No. 10), Zach LaVine (No. 13), Rodney Hood (No. 23), K.J. McDaniels (No. 32), and Jordan Clarkson (No. 46).

Celtics Notes: Draft, Cauley-Stein, Ainge

May 17th, 2015 at 12:52pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Boston is “very open” to moving up in next month’s NBA draft, two league sources tell A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. The sources did not indicate which player the Celtics were targeting, but Blakely notes there are growing signs that their target would be Willie Cauley-Stein. Boston’s defense improved over the course of the season, ranking 12th in the league in defensive efficiency by season’s end. However, the team lacked a true defensive presence in its interior. Cauley-Stein is widely considered one of the best, if not the best, rim protector in the draft, so the fit makes sense for a team looking to improve on its 40-win campaign and become a true contender. The 21-year-old is currently the sixth best prospect according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress and Chad Ford of ESPN.com pegs him as the eighth best prospect. The Celtics own the 16th and the 28th pick in this year’s first round, as well as several first-rounders in the upcoming years, as our Traded Future Draft Picks page indicates. Boston already has an influx of young talent on the roster, which gives the team the flexibility to consolidate picks in order to obtain more highly regarded players.

Here’s more from Boston:

President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge is receiving praise from around the league, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. “I think in today’s day and age where the NBA finds itself, with as much cap space that’s available, with how coveted young players are in the new system, to be able to operate and accumulate that many draft choices and put that on top of a lot flexibility is not easy,” said Thunder GM Sam Presti. “That’s because it’s not an exclusive marketplace they’re operating in. They have to do it in ways that are being mirrored by their competitors.”
Suns GM Ryan McDonough spoke very highly of Ainge and the job that he has done, Bulpett writes in the same piece. “Usually teams do one or the other. You try to compete, and that involves getting rid of young players, maybe bringing in some more veteran players, trading draft picks for vets. Or you rebuild, and that means trading away veteran players, really only focusing on picks and young players. The challenge is to do both. I think the really good organizations can do it, but it’s tricky. I think when you’re with an organization like the Celtics or the Suns that have great history and tradition, it’s not really acceptable or certainly not desirable to bottom out. You don’t want to bottom out and hope for luck in the lottery. I admire the way the Celtics have done it,” McDonough said. “They’ve done a tremendous job. They’ve got all the future picks in the queue that are coming down the line. They have some good young players. Obviously they have excellent management and coaching. The fans will see over time how things will work out.”

Celtics Notes: Thomas, Ainge, Offseason

May 1st, 2015 at 6:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes that Boston is indeed a marquee destination for free agents, but the team needs to be more aggressive in how it markets itself to players, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. “Most of the guys that have played here love it here, and they don’t want to leave once they’re here,” Ainge said. “Not all of them are really excited about coming here when they first get here, but usually by the time they leave they love the organization and they love the city. So we need to get that word out. Some players will like it and some won’t. It’s that simple. Some players will choose sunshine over cold, but ultimately, most players want to be paid, they want an opportunity to play their game and be respected by the league, and they want an opportunity to win.”

Here’s more out of Beantown:

Ainge also addressed point guard Isaiah Thomas‘ desire to be a starter, and pointed to past Celtics stars who embraced the sixth man role for the franchise, Bulpett notes. “Isaiah is one of the top point guards in the league, so I understand that,” Ainge said. “I think that what makes him great is he’s a driven guy who really wants to be recognized as one of the great little guys that’s ever played basketball, and I guess to encourage him to feel like he can still do that by coming off the bench, a la John Havlicek and Kevin McHale and Cedric Maxwell and many of the Celtic greats that came off the bench. But like right now for our team I think Isaiah is more suited for a bench role, but ultimately that’s Brad Stevens’ and Isaiah’s, you know, how he plays and Brad’s decisions, because Isaiah expends a ton of energy to score.“
The Celtics’ front office isn’t sure what the trade market will hold this offseason, or if the franchise will be able to capitalize on its wealth of trade exceptions, Bulpett writes in a separate article. “I mean, all we can do is guess,” said Ainge. “We can guess like the fans can guess, but no one really knows. Hey, I don’t know. There haven’t been any talks since trade deadline. Occasionally, when you have trade-deadline conversations where the trigger wasn’t pulled on certain deals, we may have some indication of players that are available or may be available. I feel like we need to have a busy summer, and we will have a busy summer.“

Eastern Notes: Celtics, Van Gundy, Eddie

March 14th, 2015 at 11:25am CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said there is no disconnect between him and president of basketball operations Danny Ainge as the team fights for a playoff berth, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald writes. Stevens has not been asked by Ainge to use younger players at the expense of winning, according to Bulpett, who points out that rookie James Young has lost his spot in the rotation. Ainge made several trades this season with an eye to the future, including deals that shipped out veterans Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince. “To me, there doesn’t need to be any separation. This is the focus we have,” Stevens said to the team’s beat reporters. “Obviously [Ainge] has got to look at everything from a roster standpoint and the development standpoint and everything else, but I think our progress as a team and the way we’re progressing, all that stuff goes hand in hand.”

In other news around the Eastern Conference:

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is unhappy about his team playing 22 back-to-backs this season, tying his team with the Hornets for the most in the league, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. Van Gundy believes the problem is due to the league’s contract with TNT which prevents teams from scheduling games on most Thursday nights, Langlois adds. “If you looked at the schedule and said, they’ve got 45 home games and they’ve only got 37, everybody would go crazy,” Van Gundy said to Langlois. “But on the back to backs, we don’t say anything. I think that is something to be addressed.”
Jarell Eddie will not receive a second 10-day contract from the Hawks, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reveals. Eddie, whose first 10-day contract expires on Saturday, did not appear in any games after he was signed away from the D-League’s Austin Spurs. He will likely return to Austin, Vivlamore continues.

Atlantic Notes: Prince, Harris, Ainge, Mullens

January 27th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

Tayshaun Prince is playing well and has helped the Celtics close to within two games of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but while Brad Stevens is clearly a fan of his game, Prince’s performance is making him a more valuable trade chip, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. The C’s have reportedly been attempting to deal Prince for draft considerations. There’s more on the Celtics amid the latest from around the Atlantic Division:

A close friend of Tobias Harris told Marc Berman of the New York Post last week that the forward wants to win a championship with the Knicks, but Harris’ father disputes the notion that his son is anxious to play for New York, as Torrel Harris tells Isaiah Narciso of The Gospel Times. The Knicks apparently plan to pursue the soon-to-be restricted free agent.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge waffled about his future while the Celtics were a winning team, but he’s committed to seeing Boston’s rebuilding project through and says he’s “ready for the long haul,” as he tells Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald.
Byron Mullens has changed agents, hiring Todd Ramasar of Stealth Sports, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The center, who played briefly in China this season and saw his last NBA action for the Sixers last year, had been with Lee Melchionni of the Wasserman Media Group.

Atlantic Notes: Green, Ainge, Knicks

January 15th, 2015 at 8:42pm CST by Eddie Scarito

JaMychal Green, who plays for the Austin Toros, San Antonio’s D-League affiliate, is garnering interest from the Knicks, Spurs, and Bulls for a possible 10-day contract, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). Green was in training camp with San Antonio this year. Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:

The Celtics could end up with as many as four first-rounders in the 2015 NBA draft, depending on how the protections attached to some of the picks shake out. In an interview on 98.5 The Sports Hub (hat tip to Ben Rohrbach of WEEI 93.7 FM), Boston’s president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said of the upcoming draft, “It’s a decent draft, not spectacular.“
Ainge, who has been stockpiling future picks in the deals he has made for Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and Austin Rivers, added, “In a perfect world, I would like to trade picks for proven, quality players. That’s a perfect world,” Rohrbach tweets.
Explaining why he has acquired so many future draft picks in his various deals this season if his preference was for proven players, Ainge said that it is difficult to obtain superstar talent outside of the draft in today’s NBA, Rohrbach relays (Twitter link).
The Knicks need to break the franchise’s pattern of sacrificing the future for the present, Christopher Reina of RealGM opines. One change that Reina posits could help is for Phil Jackson to hire a workaholic GM who would continue to tear down the roster and concentrate on accumulating assets, not salary cap space.
The Pelicans’ rebuilding plan is one that Sixers GM Sam Hinkie hopes to emulate, Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. The Pelicans accumulated assets, similar to what Hinkie is doing, and used them to acquire players like Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans through trades. While it can be argued that mimicking New Orleans, with its 19-19 record, isn’t necessarily shooting for the moon, if the Pelicans were in the East, they would currently occupy the sixth playoff seed.

Latest On Joel Embiid

June 21st, 2014 at 6:31pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Joel Embiid had been the prohibitive favorite to be the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, but his foot injury and subsequent need for surgery has placed his likelihood of being a top-3 pick in serious doubt, as executives worry that he could be the next in a long line of talented big men to have their careers cut short by injury, Here’s the latest on Embiid…

Initial concerns about Embiid centered on a stress fracture in his back — an injury that caused him to miss the final several weeks of the college season, including the NCAA tournament, but the foot injury is an even worse concern now, writes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. A Western Conference executive said, “The back thing wouldn’t have bothered me as much, to be quite honest. But big men and bad feet are a bad combination. And big men with two injury concerns (back and foot) are a worse combination. No way (the Cavs) take him. It costs people money and jobs.“
In the same article, a Western Conference coach had a different opinion, telling Amico, “Embiid is a top-three overall talent. He’s the best big in the draft. I wouldn’t rule him out.”
Another executive weighed in on the talents of Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker, telling Amico, “How do you draft Embiid and his bad foot when you have two guys like (Parker and Wiggins) sitting there? If you take an injury-prone big man to pass on a healthy and talented wing … you could really set the franchise back. The Cavs want to start winning. Draft the healthy guy.” That same executive then said he wouldn’t risk taking Embiid prior to the sixth pick.
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com thinks that Embiid fits what the Lakers need. Adande opines that with Kobe Bryant under contract for two more seasons, the team doesn’t need to think long-term right now. Rather, they need to maximize what’s left of Kobe’s career, which makes the possibility of Embiid having his career cut short by injury not as big a risk as it would be for many of the other teams drafting in the top-10.
Embiid might fall to the Celtics who own the sixth pick, and GM Danny Ainge has a history of taking players with injuries in their backgrounds, writes Mike Petraglia of WEEI 93.7 FM. The article cites Ainge’s selections of Jared Sullinger and Avery Bradley as examples.

Eastern Notes: Pistons, Hornets, Dolan, Celtics

June 8th, 2014 at 8:50am CST by Eddie Scarito

The Pistons have big plans for their new NBA D-League team in Grand Rapids, writes David Mayo of MLive. Coach and president of basketball operations, Stan Van Gundy intends to use the D-League as a major part of their development plan for young players, reports Mayo. Van Gundy said, “If you get that coach integrated with what you’re doing, and you’re playing the same system and everything else, I think that D-League thing can be very, very valuable. And we’ll take the hiring of that coach as a very big part of our staff because I think it can be that valuable.“

More news from the east:

If the Hornets don’t want to regress next season they will have to add some offensive weapons to their roster, writes Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer.
Knicks owner James Dolan needs to observe how Heat owner Micky Arison and Spurs owner Peter Holt do business, writes Mitch Lawrence of The New York Daily News. Lawrence cites Dolan’s tendency to meddle in basketball affairs as one of the main issues affecting the franchise’s ability to rebuild and contend.
If the Celtics want to acquire Kevin Love from the Timberwolves the possibility of re-signing him will be directly tied to what GM Danny Ainge decides to do with Rajon Rondo, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Without Love the team has less of a reason to retain Rondo, and without Rondo the team would be less likely to entice Love to stay in Boston, opines Murphy.

Eastern Notes: Bulls, Bobcats, Pistons

May 18th, 2014 at 10:00am CST by Eddie Scarito

Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times thinks Lance Stephenson or Thabo Sefolosha would be good backup targets for the Bulls if Chicago makes a failed attempt at signing Carmelo Anthony in free agency.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Brand, Celtics

May 11th, 2014 at 12:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

If the Sixers pull the trigger on a trade of Michael Carter-Williams, their point guard of the future might be Dante Exum, writes Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Many believe that Exum has a higher upside than Carter-Williams, Ford notes, pointing to Carter-Williams as one of the Sixers’ most appealing trade chips.