With new Big Three, Ainge is riding high

On the NBA • Dealing for Allen, Garnett reversed Boston GM’s fortunes

By kerry eggers

The Portland Tribune, Jan 15, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (2 Reader comments)

ELSA / GETTY IMAGES

Bringing in (from left) Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to play with Paul Pierce had the Boston Celtics atop the NBA with a 30-5 record entering Monday’s game.

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Imagine how life has changed for Danny Ainge over the span of seven months. Boston ended last season 24-58 — the second-worst record in the NBA and the third losing season in Ainge’s four-year reign as general manager.

The Celtics were but an afterthought on the Boston sports menu, and plenty of loyalists were clamoring for a change of leadership in the city’s fabled pro basketball franchise.

Then, in little more than a month of an unforgettable New England summer, Ainge pulled off trades to acquire Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Presto! As the Celtics prepare to play host to the Trail Blazers on Wednesday at TD Banknorth Garden, they own the NBA’s best record and have regained the affection of one of the nation’s most sports-crazy communities.

“That’s been really exciting,” says Ainge, the Eugene native who spent two seasons as a guard with the Blazers. “They mention us and follow us to the level they talk about the Red Sox and Patriots. That’s a huge change. We were nonexistent the last few years.”

Suddenly, Ainge is the leading candidate for NBA executive of the year, the genius who put together the deals that make Boston the team to beat for the 2008 league championship.

Another losing campaign could have cost Ainge his job, but he doesn’t look at it like that.

“I will never feel that kind of pressure,” says Ainge, 46, whose contract with Boston runs through 2010. “I guess I’m fortunate to be that way. I’m not driven or motivated by those types of things. I have a comfortable life outside of basketball.

“My pressure comes from within: I want to win myself. So it was an internal pressure. Obviously, I’m working for people who have a lot of faith in me and gave me an opportunity. But I never felt like my job was on the line or got that impression from the owners.”

Ainge says he felt a responsibility to get coach Doc Rivers some help and to do something for — or with — All-Star forward Paul Pierce, who had spent all nine of his seasons in Boston.

The Celtics had come close to trading Pierce only once — in 2005, when they nearly swung a deal with Portland that would have included the No. 3 draft pick (Ainge would have used it to take Chris Paul). This time, it came down to a decision about either getting Pierce veteran help or rebuilding around 23-year-old center Al Jefferson.

“I preferred to stay with Paul all along,” Ainge says.

On draft day, Boston sent Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West and the rights to Jeff Green to Seattle for Allen and the rights to Glen Davis. Little more than a month later, the Celtics landed the whopper, Garnett, in exchange for Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and two future first-round picks.

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