For those that think that Danny "lucked out" or somehow figured out how to be a good GM in the summer of 2007, I submit this evidence to the contrary. Hearken back to the date of February 24, 2005, which is when this whole Rondo-to-Boston journey really began. Such was the day that Danny Ainge traded a soft European swingman named Jiri Welsch to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the pick that would eventually land Rondo. Recall Welsch, who originally came to Boston as a throw-in player from the Dallas Mavericks as part of the Antoine Walker for Raef LaFrentz deal in October of 2003. Welsch had a decent outside shot but not much else in his bag of tricks. In the 2004-05 season, he started 55 games for Boston before eventually losing his starting spot to then-rookie Tony Allen. While Welsch was sitting on the bench in his diminished role with Boston, Jim Paxson of the Cavaliers came calling in search of some much-needed outside shooting help and the deal was struck. Needless to say, Jiri was out of the league soon thereafter, but Danny wasn't done. Fast forward to June 28, 2006, the date of the draft during which Danny Ainge used that Cleveland pick to send to Phoenix (along with cash considerations) to obtain the draft rights to Rondo (and the to-be-waived Brian Grant's remaining contract). Recall that at the time of the draft, Rondo was still a relatively unproven talent, considered by most to be behind UConn's Marcus Williams on the draft's projected point guard depth chart. So what you have there is talent evaluation (on his own team and in the draft) and creative trading. Not everything he did worked out in the end, but I could see the method to his madness at every step. Nice job Danny. --

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