Danny Ainge is engaged in a high-stakes game of NBA draft chicken with the rest of the league. GM’s are daring him to make his 8 draft picks, and he’s daring them to miss out on potential franchise-altering talent.
Looks like Ainge might be winning:
League sources tell @chadfordinsider and me: Philadelphia is ramping up its efforts to acquire tonight’s No. 3 overall pick from Boston.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 23, 2016
Personally, I don’t care about giving Philly Dunn and Simmons.
A: I’m not sold on Simmons being anything “special.” I think he’ll be Lamar Odom 2.0. Good luck with that.
B: It’ll take those guys some time to reach their full potential. If Ainge can fleece the Sixers for some key pieces (Noel as the rim defender, Saric as a small-ball 4, and maybe a future pick), the Celtics will reach contender status before Philly becomes much of a threat.
And even if Philly doesn’t pan out, other teams enamored with Dunn will see Philly is starting to blink, so they’ll all start to blink too.
…. of course, this could just be a leak from Danny Ainge letting the league know Philly is blinking. And since I firmly believe Philly is behind the “Ainge is shopping 3 and getting nowhere” leak, this would be a brilliant counter-attack.
Either way, it’s heating up and the draft is now hours away.
