When I think of Danny Ainge, the first thing that comes to mind is a T-shirt that reads "I Hate Danny Ainge" in bold letters on the front. The thing is, Ainge was the one wearing the shirt. He once wore it back in his playing days with the Celtics in the late '80s as some bizarre commentary on the fan-player relationship (I am guessing). That is the kind of guy Ainge was as a player, and he has been equally eccentric in the front office.
Few would have guessed that the man responsible for nicknaming vintage Pistons guard Vinnie Johnson "The Microwave" would now be the brains behind the most storied NBA franchise. But with the Celtics rolling and winners of nine out of 10 since the return of Antoine Walker, it is starting to seem that there is a method to Ainge's madness.
Of course, it did not appear that Ainge had much of a clue at all when he first took control of the team. His first of a string of questionable moves sent Antoine Walker to Dallas on the eve of the 2004 season, essentially in exchange for Raef LaFrentz, Jiri Welsch and a first round pick. To an extent, Antoine was beginning to wear out his welcome in Boston. For a player not known for his shooting range, Walker jacked up a league-leading eight threes a night. Combined with his mopey, self-entitled attitude on the court, Ainge saw enough reason to send Walker packing.
While Walker's relationship with the fans and the team was starting to go stale, trading him for the likes of LaFrentz and Welsch was not what anyone could have had in mind. It was hardly a trade of equal value. Walker was a two-time All-Star capable of 20, seven and five per night. Welsch was a prospect with modest potential. LaFrentz ... well, LaFrentz is LaFrentz. He is an injury-prone, underachieving center who plays almost entirely on the perimeter. The only thing more disappointing than his career up to this point is his Robbie Hart Wedding Singer haircut. These were the players Boston was getting for Antoine Walker, and Ainge's motives were rightfully questioned.
What did he do to right the ship? He traded the team's defensive leader, Eric Williams, along with Tony Battie, to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Chris Mihm and the much-maligned Ricky Davis. In principle, Ainge exchanged head coach Jim O'Brien's favorite player in Williams for an upstart problem child who once shot on his own basket trying to get a triple double. Jim O'Brien shortly resigned after four seasons of getting the Celtics to overachieve, and the team was left in disarray for the remainder of the 2004 season.
Later on in 2004, in a way that seemed to add insult to the dubious executive decisions Ainge had made, he acted as the key component of the Rasheed Wallace trade for seemingly no particular reason. The Celtics brought on Chucky Atkins (real deal-breaker there), allowing the Pistons to acquire Wallace and make their postseason run that ended in an NBA title. So not only were the Celtics' faithful utterly baffled at this point, the rest of the Eastern Conference could not have felt anything but pissed that Ainge graciously helped the Pistons win the East and eventually the championship.
After the train wreck that was his first season as GM, Ainge looked like perhaps his head was spending too much time close to a microwave. But just as you wondered about Ainge as a player with his eccentric antics, he usually would come through with a big shot. "Shooters shoot," he used to say, and Ainge has kept shooting, and now it appears as if the team has turned a corner.
In the offseason, Ainge traded Atkins and stiff-center Mihm for Gary Payton. Payton is over the hill, but he has some serviceable years left at the point position. Ainge did a masterful job in the draft, acquiring studs Al Jefferson, Delonte West, and Tony Allen in the first round. Jefferson has shown promise of becoming a legitimate force in the pivot, and West and Allen already fit remarkably well in Doc Rivers' system.
Then, three weeks ago, Ainge pulled off the trade that will most likely define his job as GM up to this point: he traded back for Antoine Walker. In the same way that his "I Hate Danny Ainge" T-shirt made little immediate sense, Ainge dealt for the player whom he dislodged from Boston only a year and a half ago. He reacquired the player who once called Ainge "a snake" and had insisted a personal vendetta was involved upon leaving. Now, any vendetta's gone, no hard feelings, and after resigning the waived Gary Payton, he got Walker for basically nothing - an obsolete Tom Gugliotta and Michael Stewart. And with Walker's contract expiring this summer, the Celtics are not financially obligated either.
It has been a total roundabout wild ride for Ainge since he took over as GM two years ago. The exile and return of Antoine Walker has been the most circuitous of all his routes, and yet the team is coming together. At 35-29, his Celtics are poised to make a run in the East and put up a hard fight against Detroit or Miami. With the three-headed monster of Pierce, Walker, and Davis to go along with their standout rookie class, Danny Ainge has this team not far off the class of the Eastern Conference. You may not know where he is coming from, and he might not seem to know either, but Danny Ainge has gotten the Celtics ready to make some noise in the East.
Dennis Doyle is a senior majoring in engineering. He can be reached at Dennis.Doyle@tufts.edu.
