Paul Pierce a GM?

Before we get into the winners and losers of the draft I have to get something off my chest. The NBA is headed towards an era where the players are emulating general managers. Players need to play and those running the franchises need to make the best decisions for their teams and their fanbase.
When Kevin Garnett and Shawn Marion refused to come to Boston they gave themselves a sense of entitlement that in reality they don't have. Neither of them have no-trade clauses in their contracts and both of them stand to make between 15-20 million dollars no matter what uniform they're in. I hate to say it because I love both of their games, but both players came off as spoiled brats. A player shouldn't be able to decide which team they play for, if that were the case then nobody would be on the Kansas City Royals or the Charlotte Bobcats.
When Paul Pierce said he would demand a trade out of Boston if they didn't acquire a veteran for some assistance next season, he handcuffed Danny Ainge and put the organization in a tough situation. Paul Pierce is not the GM of the Boston Celtics. The Boston Celtics were around long before we drafted him out of Kansas and they'll be around long after he's gone.
I realize in the Kevin Garnett case that if he were unhappy as a Celtic he would simply opt out of his contract and be gone after one season, but the window of winning with Pierce in his prime is only a couple of years anyway. For the Celtics to become relevant, all they had to do was draft Yi Jianlian or Corey Brewer. It was a simple choice and the team would be better off in the long term for it.

Before I stab myself in the pupil with a pair of scissors, let me get to my winners and losers of this years draft.

Winners:

3. Isiah Thomas- He realized that he was holding all the cards when making the trade for Zach Randolph and got a guy who should average 25 and 10 next season. Teaming him up with Eddy Curry should be a successful venture unless the two butt heads. Speaking of Curry, the Bulls ended up taking Joakim Noah with their number 9 pick (that they got from New York) instead of Spencer Hawes. Noah's a less athletic version of Tyrus Thomas so this doesn't make sense unless Chicago's thinking of dealing for KG down the line.

2. New Orleans Hornets- They didn't necessarily make any great decisions, but were lucky enough to have Julian Wright fall into their laps. Playing with Chris Paul could make him an all-star at some point in his career.

1. Seattle Supersonics- Imagine how many championships Michael Jordan would have won if him and Pippen were drafted together. The Sonics had the easiest pick in the history of the draft and then dealt a Ray Allen (who would only take Durant's shots) to the Celtics for our number 5 pick. They then took the perfect complimentary player for Durant to play alongside in Jeff Green. He rebounds, passes extremely well, plays defense, and is a reliable scorer if it's needed. Those two could make it very difficult in the future for Greg Oden to win any championships.

Losers:

3. Charlotte Bobcats- Taking Brandan Wright was a smart pick. Immediately moving him for Jason Richardson? I'm not so sure.

2. Phoenix Suns- The good news is they still have Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion. The bad news is they aren't significantly better as a team and their stars of the future are probably pissed off that the Suns were publicly shopping them for Kevin Garnett.

1. Boston Celtics- Sitting in my living room on draft night decked out in my Ryan Gomes jersey, with a bowl of popcorn and a heavily perspiring can of soda, my jaw hit the floor when Andy Katz came on the screen and told me that the Celtics weren't trading their 5 pick for Kevin Garnett or Shawn Marion, but instead Ray Allen. My reaction lied somewhere between hurling everything within my reach at the television and pondering whether or not a Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson trio could take this team deep in the post season. I still would have preferred it if the C's took Brewer, but if Allen's ankles are "perfect" like he says they are and Danny Ainge can land Andrei Kirilenko, maybe the Celtics can get out of the first round in next year's playoffs.