Massarotti: What Exactly Is Danny Ainge Up To?
BOSTON (CBS) -- From Marcus Smart, Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley to Terry Rozier, R.J. Hunter and Marcus Thornton, the Celtics now have more guards than Buckingham Palace. And so the easy thing to do now is wonder whether Danny Ainge has designs on an NBA Championship or whether he has designs on resurrecting the old World Basketball League.
Big guys need not apply.
Look, I get it: you're confused. So am I. But I must admit that I'm also a little intrigued. There's a long way to go before the Celtics can even think about comparing themselves with the Golden State Warriors, who just won the NBA title with a cookie-cutter lineup of guys ranging from 6-foot-3 to 6-foot-8. For that matter, the closest thing to a big man in the NBA Finals was Timofey Mozgov, whom the Cavaliers effectively sat in pivotal Game 5 because he simply couldn't keep up.
In Mozgov's best game of the series, in fact, the Cavs got smoked. By 21 points. On their home floor.
Here's the point: there is the chance here that big guys aren't what they used to be. Three years ago, with the 22nd pick, the Celtics selected Fab Melo, a 7-footer so clueless that he suffered a concussion after hitting his head on a door frame. Thirteen picks later, the Warriors took a 6-foot-8 guy named Draymond Green. In the NBA, drafting for need is dumber than in any other sport, simply because there is zero point in taking a big stiff purely because he's big.
Sorry.
But for the most part, in the NBA, the term "big stiff" is redundant.
Does this mean Ainge entirely knows what he's doing? God no. (Like I said, I'm intrigued.) If Bobby Portis turns into a player – the 6-foot-11 power forward ended up in Chicago after many draft projections had him landing in Boston – then Ainge is going to have some serious explaining to do given the Celtics' obvious deficiencies in the frontcourt.
That is, of course, unless the players Ainge selected turn out to be every bit the players, giving Ainge the kind of talent and options that might someday allow him to make the kind of deal everyone wanted him to make last night.
Or maybe, just maybe, Ainge already has designs on trying to pry Jahlil Okafor from Philadelphia with a collection of guards the Sixers desperately need.
If not now, maybe later.
Whatever the case, let's make something clear: in the NBA, perhaps more than any other league, rebuilding is a long process. Save for the player who goes No. 1 – which the Minnesota Timberwolves have now secured in consecutive seasons to land Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony Towns – there are really no magic beans and, consequently, no beanstalk. You got that, Jack?
All of that said, where the Celtics are going here remains anybody's guess. In the hours and days leading up to last night's draft, there was wild speculation about what Philadelphia would do with the No. 3 selection if and when the Los Angeles Lakers took D'Angelo Russell at No. 2. Lo and behold, when that is exactly what happened, there were about five minutes of true drama right up until the point the Sixers selected Okafor with alleged intentions of keeping him.
Maybe you buy that, maybe you don't. (I don't.) If the Sixers were enamored with Okafor, they wouldn't have even been listening on the No. 2 pick. Philadelphia is every bit as capable of trading a big man now as the Sixers were yesterday, and Ainge now seemingly has more to deal from his backcourt than he did 24 hours ago.
Am I confused by Ainge's approach last night?
You bet I am.
But the annual draft does not mark the end of the offseason in the NBA. It marks only the beginning.
Tony Massarotti co-hosts the Felger and Massarotti Show on 98.5 The Sports Hub weekdays from 2-6 p.m. Follow him on Twitter @TonyMassarotti. You can read more from Tony by clicking here.
