Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge is one of the best there is in his job. Ainge orchestrated yet another trade coup when he traded for Kyrie Irving last summer. However, Ainge admits that when the trade was held up for about a week, there were moments he thought the deal wouldn't go through, according to ESPN's Chris Forsberg.
While neither the Celtics' nor Cavaliers' front office desired to revisit and dissect the reasons for that holdup, Danny Ainge admitted there were times he was truly concerned the deal would get rescinded.
“It's like you're a real estate agent and someone has agreed to buy your house, but until the papers are signed and the bank is on board, the sale doesn't go through. And that's sort of how it is after you make any deal in our league.
“It's never done until it's done.”
Ainge was quick to jump on the opportunity when Irving demanded a trade out of Cleveland. The Celtics and Cavaliers initially agreed to a deal that sent Irving to Boston for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and the Nets' first-round pick, but Thomas' hip injury caused a delay. The Celtics ultimately added a second-round pick to the deal to complete it.
Ainge has built a reputation of being really excellent at what he does. Coach Brad Stevens and his players deserve the credit given to them during their surprising deep run in the postseason last year, but Ainge has put the whole thing together.
Brad Botkin of CBS Sports writes:
And for that, the real credit ought to be going to Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who is the one who not only put this roster together, but kept it together when just about every pundit out there, including myself, thought he was hoarding too many assets. Turns out, those assets were, and are, pretty damn valuable.
What Ainge has done in building one championship roster in Boston, then tearing it down almost completely only to build this newest one right back up, is beyond remarkable. I'd be remiss, as Ainge would, not to give a little hat tip to the bumbling Nets, who gave the Celtics the world for an aging Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett back in 2013, but still, Ainge was the one who pulled that deal off.
With Irving and Gordon Hayward coming back to the lineup following an injury-riddled season, the Celtics are primed to take over the Eastern Conference thanks in part to Ainge's leadership.
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