Ainge Discusses Why He Decided Against Trading Jimmy Butler
Ainge discusses why, as a Celtics executive, he decided against trading for Jimmy Butler on NBC Sports Boston. Jimmy Butler had the opportunity to play for the Boston Celtics at one point, although it feels like an eternity ago.
Ainge discusses why, as a Celtics executive, he decided against trading for Jimmy Butler on NBC Sports Boston. Jimmy Butler had the opportunity to play for the Boston Celtics at one point, although it feels like an eternity ago.
Butler was the focus of trade rumors throughout the months leading up to the 2016 NBA Draft. He was eventually kept by the Bulls, although there were rumors that he was a target for the Celtics at the time.
Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles, two former NBA players, joined former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge on the “Knuckleheads” podcast recently. Even though he truly loved the player, Butler, Ainge gave them an explanation of why he finally chose against dealing with him.
“Some of the best trades I ever made were the ones that I wasn’t able to make.” “I was trying to get Jimmy Butler from Chicago when I was in Boston, but they wanted a lot. And so we didn’t do it. Because it would’ve been Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both those draft picks that we got Jaylen and Jayson with. So that was one that I loved Jimmy and was trying to get. I could’ve drafted Jimmy late; I liked him even then. Now she’s been proving how good of a player he was. Yeah, that was probably one.”
Danny Ainge
Two of the top young players in the league are Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Tatum was recently nominated to the NBA’s first team for the second straight season and became the first Celtics player to average more than 30 points per game.
After posting a career-high 26.6 points per game last season, Brown was nominated for second-team All-NBA. Even though neither player is 27 years old, the Celtics boast a top-three or top-five league tandem.
Particularly during the playoffs, Butler has improved dramatically. Later, during the 2017 NBA Draft, the Bulls traded him to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Before the 2019–20 season, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers after a brief stint with the T-Wolves, and then he ultimately ended up with the Miami Heat. In each of the seasons (2019–20 and 2022-23) that he led the Heat to NBA Finals participation, he defeated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, having Butler alone is preferable to having two young All-NBA players.
It usually works out better for the Celtics when high-round picks are kept instead of traded for seasoned players. The appropriate players still need to be selected and developed. Brown and Tatum were chosen by the Celtics, who should be commended for selecting the proper players and placing them in favorable circumstances to develop into stars.
