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Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge has been long hailed as a poker player executive, the one that knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. But for once Ainge took the cards from under his sleeve and planted one after another on the table, making moves he wasn't expected to make — cards that he knew he'd have to play before someone else beat him to the punch.
“I think there were tough decisions this summer. We're going to have tough decisions no matter what. You can do them now or you can do them later,” Ainge told Brian Robb of the Boston Sports Journal after having signed a star player in Gordon Hayward and unforeseeably trading for Kyrie Irving thereafter. “We had every intention of doing them or we were willing to do them later to keep the group together for a little while longer. But when opportunities came up to sign Gordon and to get Kyrie, we felt like they were good enough opportunities to do right now obviously. They were very difficult decisions and we think they are going to work out for us short term and long term.”
Ainge accumulated draft pick after draft pick, netting a much-awaited No. 1 selection from the Brooklyn Nets stemming from the once future pick he got as part of the trade for Paul Pierce.
The longtime executive even netted another as part of a pre-draft trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, which swapped for the No. 3 selection (who turned into Jayson Tatum) and bundled with more that were later given to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“You know what, I think dealing with Cleveland, it's not ideal. It's not ideal to deal with your rival,” said Ainge. “They probably had some trepidation and vice versa, but ultimately it was just trying to do what was best to build our team. Cleveland is getting our best point guard and we are getting their best point guard. It'll be interesting to see how that all works.”
“Obviously, there are a lot more factors than all of that, but I would say it was not as comfortable as dealing with a team from the other coast when you are trading other key players away. Both teams were willing to do it, so as rare as that is (to deal with a rival), it's not impossible.”
