Danny Ainge won the staredown with Cleveland


Danny Ainge drew a line in the sand. When the Cavaliers evaluated Isaiah Thomas' hip and declared that his injury would require a bigger package from Boston, Ainge said he would throw in a second-round draft pick and nothing more. In other words, he politely told the Cavs to take a hike when they asked for another valuable asset like a second first-rounder, Jayson Tatum, or Jaylen Brown.

Finally, after days of renegotiations, Boston and Cleveland agreed on a deal Wednesday night. And all it took was a stinking 2020 second round draft pick.



When the news of Isaiah's "alarming" physical became public, the Cavs and the Celtics entered a good ole standoff. Cleveland wanted everything (first rounder/Tatum/Brown), while Ainge wanted to give nothing (except for a second-rounder, which is virtually nothing). Boston called the bluff, held their ground, and waited for Cleveland to blink. And boy, did they blink. Considering that they delayed the deal by many days, to say that the Cavs "settled" with one extra second-rounder that they can use in three years would be a gross understatement.



For the Celts, the late 2020 pick was an easy throw in and well worth the price to get this saga in the rear view mirror. After all, they were initially rewarded the second-rounder for a simply salary dump in 2015:



Nice try Cleveland, but Danny Ainge 100% won this staredown. Enjoy that second-round draft pick that you can use three years from now!

And by the way, here's some behind the scenes footage of when Danny heard that the Cavs wanted more in the deal, probably:


via GIPHY

DIDN'T. BLINK. ONCE. That's how it's done, Dealer Danny.


Follow Erik Johnson on Twitter: @erikjohnson32

Photo via AP Photo