As a leader of Boston for 18 years from 2003 to 2021 then in Utah, Danny Ainge had to make many decisions, which he then had to learn to live with. The latest was to participate in the choice to leave on a new project in Utah last summer by separating from Quin Snyder, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.
Among his best career “moves”, the current Jazz president revealed that it was perhaps when he refrained from recruiting a player, Jimmy Butler in this case, that he had the nose the finer. The Celtics could have picked up an exceptionally talented element and they even had a proposal from the Bulls on the table. Except that this choice would have compromised the future of Boston in the long term.
“Some of the best trade choices I’ve made are the ones I ultimately couldn’t make », he confided in the podcast “Knuckleheads” hosted by Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles. “I tried to get Jimmy Butler when he was in Chicago when I was in Boston, but they were asking a lot. So we didn’t and it would have ended up against Jaylen and Jayson, since it was with those two draft picks that we got them. This is one of the examples”.
Danny Ainge liked Jimmy Butler for a long time
Since Jaylen Brown was drafted in 2016 and Jaylen Brown in 2017, Danny Ainge is therefore probably referring to 2015, the year Butler was voted Most Improved Player by going from 13 to 20 points per game. Chicago finally sent Jimmy Butler to Minnesota on the night of the 2017 Draft.
The temptation must have been great as Danny Ainge had Jimmy Butler in his sights even before the latter was drafted. But subsequent events proved him right, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum now sharing the face of the Massachusetts franchise.
“I love Jimmy. We tried hard to get it back. We couldn’t draft him. I enjoyed it even then. Since then, he has proven what a good player he is. So that’s the one I think of first.” he added.
