Woj Let Us Know Last Night That Danny Ainge Is Not Fucking Around
Uh oh, is that Trader Danny music? I think it might be! Listen over the last few days every single report that’s come out about Anthony Davis has clearly come from LeBron’s camp. First it was AD wasn’t sure Kyrie would be staying in Boston so they weren’t a preferred destination, then it was that the Lakers were the only team AD would sign an extension with, then it was “real” that Kyrie wanted to join LeBron in LA. Rich Paul was trying to do everything in his power in order to drive that narrative. I respect him for it, that’s his job, but he forgot one thing.
Two can play at that game.
Enter this comment from Woj. Oh you think Rich Paul is the only side that can leak things? This was Ainge’s flex back and it’s what LeBron doesn’t seem to understand. Danny Ainge will put EVERYTHING on the table in order to bring in Anthony Davis. You don’t think the Pelicans know what the Lakers offer is already? Of course they do, so why haven’t we seen it happen? Because Ainge can come out and drop his nuts on the table like this. He’s basically saying to NO, every single player and pick on our team is available, we’ll pay whatever you want even if it’s an overpayment just as long as you wait until the summer. How can the Pelicans turn that down? Their focus is now on finding the best return to begin their rebuild. Maybe if Ainge said something like “everyone but Kyrie and Tatum are off limits” that may have led NO to act early. But that’s not what he’s saying. He’s giving them just enough reassurance that in one quick quote he has completely cucked the shit out of LeBron and Rich Paul. Suck on that you cheating dickheads.
Now from a Celtics perspective, if he’s saying they’ll give NO everything they want, what does that look like to you? Are you comfortable with Tatum/Jaylen/Terry/Al/every pick you have just for AD? That then gives you a core of Kyrie/Hayward/AD/Smart moving forward. Is that enough to compete for a title? Who knows. Maybe the Ainge is able to salvage one of Tatum/Jaylen because he’s a jedi master, I suppose anything is possible. What we do know is at a time where we needed something to slow down all these LeBron planted “sources”, it’s finally nice to get another credible guy telling us something that fits our narrative. Remember, first Sam Amick came out and said the Kyrie stuff is bullshit, so that was a nice relief. Now we’re hearing that Ainge is already talking to NO to talk them off the ledge, I’d say that’s another positive.
There’s also this to consider. Let’s say Kyrie really does hate the young guys and he expresses that to Ainge. For all we know Ainge and the Pelicans already have an accepted deal in place, they just can’t announce it. Ainge then tells Kyrie they landed AD with the trade package he already approved and then in turn get him to commit long term. In order for Ainge to pay that price, he gets assurance from AD that he’ll resign as long as Kyrie is there. Then we get that Amick story about how the reports Kyrie won’t resign are false. That’s as plausible as any of the other scenarios we keep seeing on Twitter isn’t it? When I think of reasons why NO would wait, it’s not just to see what Ainge would offer, they have to know already what the official deal is and be OK with it or else why wouldn’t they just take LeBron’s offer?
Remember we’re at a time where everyone is posturing and feeding false information to drive up prices and scare away potential suitors. The one constant is that Ainge has never given a fuck about any of that and he knows he has the best combination of assets/players/picks to get this done. That’s why we don’t need to hear rumors of what may or may not be involved, we hear Ainge come out and say, take whatever you want. Once he made that known, nothing else from Rich Paul really matters.
All I can tell you is trust in Danny Ainge. He’s clearly not fucking around and that’s a comforting feeling during what is an extremely nerve wracking trade deadline period.