The Boston Celtics will have plenty of tough choices to make this summer. Fortunately, they’ll go into the wild world of the NBA draft and offseason with one of the best in the business at the helm.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has developed a reputation as one of the most active and relentless front office members in the league. Apparently that reputation still is rock-solid, as Houston Rockets general manger Daryl Morey had high praise for Ainge on Friday while speaking at the 2016 MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.
Morey has a history with Ainge, as he worked with him in the Celtics’ front office for three years before joining the Rockets in 2006. Yet the former Celtics shooting guard also has a résumé that speaks for itself.
Ainge, of course, was responsible for uniting the “Big Three,” swinging trades for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen ahead of the 2008 season in moves that led to Boston’s dominant run to a 17th NBA championship. His most recent shrewd move involved two of those three players, as Ainge shipped Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets along with Jason Terry in 2013 in exchange for a treasure chest of future draft picks that the Celtics still are benefiting from.
Ainge will have his work cut out for him deciding what to do with Brooklyn’s first-round pick in the 2016 draft, as well as the numerous other assets at his disposal. But if Morey’s comments are any indication, Ainge will do everything he can to get what he wants.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
