Steve Bulpett points out that while other people may have influenced some of Ainge's moves, he's taking full blame for the ones that haven't worked out.
To Ainge’s credit, he has at times gone out of his way to collect the blame for poor moves. When it was written here that it was others who had pushed hard to re-sign Mark Blount when he became a free agent, Ainge was quickly on the phone to say the final call was his.
Similarly, while the first Antoine Walker deal was dead in the water (yes, Raef LaFrentz’ knees were a concern) until Jim O’Brien, unhappy with Toine, got it revived, the ultimate responsibility still was Ainge’s.
Others can make suggestions - and Ainge is wise to seek the counsel of his coaches and an ownership that has to foot the bill - but ultimately the job is his.
Trading Walker was not a mistake. Each of the other three teams he’s been on sought to do the same not long after he arrived.
But that particular deal with Dallas set the Celtics’ process back.
Ainge is right to be pleased that the move helped net Tony Allen and Delonte West, but considering the Mavericks were able to get Jason Terry for Toine, maybe the C’s should have waited a bit.