KG to Boston for Jefferson, Green, Telfair, and Ratliff

[westkoast]

This is clearly throwing all your eggs into one basket.

If the Celtics do not win a championship in any of the next three years, thereafter they will revert to a lottery team very quickly. They will anyway, but without winning it all, this will be a terrible burden for this franchise.

So the question is, are Allen and Garnett worth it? Only if they were still prime meat in the NBA market, which they are not. These guys, along with Paul Pierce, are supposed to be the backbone of the team, but after ten years in the League, the only way it will work is if they can defer to the other guys as often as they go to the basket, and all three are used to being the primary scorer on their respective teams.

Might be a little late in the game to expect all three to be able to accomplish that smoothly. The coach, for one, will need to have a stronger personality then any of them and who out there can claim that? Maybe Larry Brown, but he would be a disaster in Boston.

Paul Pierce, for one, seems the least likely to give up his role on what he surely thinks of as HIS TEAM. Allen could conceivably make the transition, if Garnett does, but this will bear watching.

That one basketball being used on the court at one time thing is going to be problematic.

Excellent point JoMaL.  If they don't click instantly then this could easily blow up in Ainge's face.  There is no adjustment period that can be given to this squad outside the first half of next season IMO.  It has to work and work fast.

The least talented player of the trio has the biggest ego (Ray Allen) funny how that works.

[Skandery]

It's officially a done deal!

Going to Minnesota --

Al Jefferson -- A bright young star.
Gerald Green -- Would-be bright young star.
Sebastien Telfair -- bright young thug
Ryan Gomes -- Minny did good getting him too.
Theo Ratliff -- Cap relief next summer

All that and 2 Draft picks

Going to Boston --

Kevin Garnett -- You know a game, him versus the 5 players mentioned above would be pretty close I think. 

7 for 1 Deal.  WOW!!

I can't believe Boston gave up Gomes, too, he would been an awesome backup to both Garnett and Pierce.  This really thins out their bench.  They're going to have no choice but to play the likes of Powe (which isn't a bad thing) and Brian Scalabreeny (which is a very very bad thing).  I mean Tony Allen will probably back up both guard spots and Powe will back up both forward spots and Perkins doesn't really have a backup now.  Hmmmm....bench is thin!  Heckuva starting 5 though. 


Edit:  Looked over the roster, they have two 6'9 rookies.  Brandon Wallace out South Carolina and Big Baby Davis out of LSU.  I guess they're expecting them to spell Perk at C. 

[Reality]

Awesome triangle, floor spacing of KG, Pierce and Ray Allen should be great.  Other two role players should be able to plug in.  Will be interesting to see if any FAs now choose Boston for a ring chance.

Now is Doc Rivers toast?
I would limit minutes especially on back to backers for the Big 3. 

Definite Atlantic Division winners and should get a Finals berth.

[westkoast]

Awesome triangle, floor spacing of KG, Pierce and Ray Allen should be great.  Other two role players should be able to plug in.  Will be interesting to see if any FAs now choose Boston for a ring chance.

Now is Doc Rivers toast?
I would limit minutes especially on back to backers for the Big 3. 

Definite Atlantic Division winners and should get a Finals berth.

They dont have the money to go after any other FAs reality.....

[ziggy]

This is clearly throwing all your eggs into one basket.

If the Celtics do not win a championship in any of the next three years, thereafter they will revert to a lottery team very quickly. They will anyway, but without winning it all, this will be a terrible burden for this franchise.

So the question is, are Allen and Garnett worth it? Only if they were still prime meat in the NBA market, which they are not. These guys, along with Paul Pierce, are supposed to be the backbone of the team, but after ten years in the League, the only way it will work is if they can defer to the other guys as often as they go to the basket, and all three are used to being the primary scorer on their respective teams.

Might be a little late in the game to expect all three to be able to accomplish that smoothly. The coach, for one, will need to have a stronger personality then any of them and who out there can claim that? Maybe Larry Brown, but he would be a disaster in Boston.

Paul Pierce, for one, seems the least likely to give up his role on what he surely thinks of as HIS TEAM. Allen could conceivably make the transition, if Garnett does, but this will bear watching.

That one basketball being used on the court at one time thing is going to be problematic.

So is this any different than what Phoenix is doing?  Phoenix is focusing their payroll on 4 players (Marion, Amare, Nash, Diaw make up 72% of their payroll).  Boston is focusing on 3 guys for 79% of their payroll.  Phx has given away a bunch of draft picks in the last few year, Boston drafted them, and is now trading them.  Phx just traded a couple of draft picks in the future, and Boston the same.  Gut the roster depth to improve quality or save cash to make make a short term run, and start all over in a couple of years.

[westkoast]

This is clearly throwing all your eggs into one basket.

If the Celtics do not win a championship in any of the next three years, thereafter they will revert to a lottery team very quickly. They will anyway, but without winning it all, this will be a terrible burden for this franchise.

So the question is, are Allen and Garnett worth it? Only if they were still prime meat in the NBA market, which they are not. These guys, along with Paul Pierce, are supposed to be the backbone of the team, but after ten years in the League, the only way it will work is if they can defer to the other guys as often as they go to the basket, and all three are used to being the primary scorer on their respective teams.

Might be a little late in the game to expect all three to be able to accomplish that smoothly. The coach, for one, will need to have a stronger personality then any of them and who out there can claim that? Maybe Larry Brown, but he would be a disaster in Boston.

Paul Pierce, for one, seems the least likely to give up his role on what he surely thinks of as HIS TEAM. Allen could conceivably make the transition, if Garnett does, but this will bear watching.

That one basketball being used on the court at one time thing is going to be problematic.

So is this any different than what Phoenix is doing?  Phoenix is focusing their payroll on 4 players (Marion, Amare, Nash, Diaw make up 72% of their payroll).  Boston is focusing on 3 guys for 79% of their payroll.  Phx has given away a bunch of draft picks in the last few year, Boston drafted them, and is now trading them.  Phx just traded a couple of draft picks in the future, and Boston the same.  Gut the roster depth to improve quality or save cash to make make a short term run, and start all over in a couple of years.

Yea but outside of Nash, those other 3 players have a good 5-7 years in em.

[Reality]

They dont have the money to go after any other FAs reality..... 

I mean will others come over on the relatively cheap side looking for a ring, ie Michael Findawg with the Spurs, Bob Parrish with the Bulls, Billy Walton with the G.O.A.T. Celts.
Also maybe they can plug in some role players cheap ie from CBA.

[Joe Vancil]

First of all, mark me down as a person who DOESN'T think Ainge is mortgaging the future.  After all, when you look at the group of players he had, it wasn't exactly setting the league on fire.  Boston was a bad team in the worst conference in basketball.

Now, Boston is relevant again.  And unless all three guys retire or break down at the same time, the retirement of one can lead to the recruitment of a replacement.  In my opinion, Boston's future got much, much brighter, and the winters in Minnesota got much, much colder.

As for Allen having the biggest ego?  Try again.  Paul Pierce is an awful ego problem.  And I'd also argue that HE'S the least talented.

Is Boston a championship contender?  Probably not.  But they are a Finals candidate in the East.  Of course, by that matter, so is Washington and so is New Jersey.  I don't think they're a lock for the Atlantic division - I think it's a battle between them and New Jersey.

[westkoast]

First of all, mark me down as a person who DOESN'T think Ainge is mortgaging the future.  After all, when you look at the group of players he had, it wasn't exactly setting the league on fire.  Boston was a bad team in the worst conference in basketball.

Now, Boston is relevant again.  And unless all three guys retire or break down at the same time, the retirement of one can lead to the recruitment of a replacement.  In my opinion, Boston's future got much, much brighter, and the winters in Minnesota got much, much colder.

As for Allen having the biggest ego?  Try again.  Paul Pierce is an awful ego problem.  And I'd also argue that HE'S the least talented.

Is Boston a championship contender?  Probably not.  But they are a Finals candidate in the East.  Of course, by that matter, so is Washington and so is New Jersey.  I don't think they're a lock for the Atlantic division - I think it's a battle between them and New Jersey.

I disagree.  Allen, by far, has the biggest ego.  If Randy still posted here he could tell you wonderful stories from Seattle about him.  I know Pierce has an ego but he has not flexed it nearly as many times as Ray Allen has.

As for who is better....well I've seen Paul Pierce put his team on his back in the playoffs, he can slash, and he is a better defender then Ray Allen.  Outside of a damn smooth jump shot Ray Allen doesn't have much over Paul Pierce.

[JoMal]

I can't really see the Celtics as doing the same things as the Suns, ziggy, though your comparison is very interesting, to say the least.

The Celtics wanted tested experience to win right now, whereas the Suns have been successful for several years now and apparently do not expect to be drafting all that high for some time, so why carry rookies on the roster who are less likely to contribute right away anyway?

Boston, on the other hand, was in a bind. While some of those young legs might develop into decent NBA style players, why take that chance if you can get back to the playoffs for the next two or three years by trading for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett and win now?

But it is those thirty year old legs that has me pondering the wisdom of this move. I can see several playoff years for Boston coming up - in fact, with the weak competition the East has to offer, that is a worthy betting guarantee - but unlike the Suns, who should be ready to start drafting again just about when their current team ages gracefully into the Arizona sunset, the Celtics will be starting completely from scratch and drop from contending like a rock once the legs of their thirty-somethings start to slow way down.

 

[JoMal]

First of all, mark me down as a person who DOESN'T think Ainge is mortgaging the future.  After all, when you look at the group of players he had, it wasn't exactly setting the league on fire.  Boston was a bad team in the worst conference in basketball.

Now, Boston is relevant again.  And unless all three guys retire or break down at the same time, the retirement of one can lead to the recruitment of a replacement.  In my opinion, Boston's future got much, much brighter, and the winters in Minnesota got much, much colder.

As for Allen having the biggest ego?  Try again.  Paul Pierce is an awful ego problem.  And I'd also argue that HE'S the least talented.

Is Boston a championship contender?  Probably not.  But they are a Finals candidate in the East.  Of course, by that matter, so is Washington and so is New Jersey.  I don't think they're a lock for the Atlantic division - I think it's a battle between them and New Jersey.

I disagree.  Allen, by far, has the biggest ego.  If Randy still posted here he could tell you wonderful stories from Seattle about him.  I know Pierce has an ego but he has not flexed it nearly as many times as Ray Allen has.

As for who is better....well I've seen Paul Pierce put his team on his back in the playoffs, he can slash, and he is a better defender then Ray Allen.  Outside of a damn smooth jump shot Ray Allen doesn't have much over Paul Pierce.

BATTLE-OF-THE-CELTIC-EGOS, part uno 

Lest we forget, an NBA player, especially a superstar-type NBA player, who possesses no ego to speak of, or confidence in their games, has the likehood of becoming a household name about as much as Randy does.

Let's call this hypothetical ego-driven, maniacal NBA player - I don't know - how about "Kobego", just for argument's sake. If Kobego were to be traded to another team that already possessed another all-star, maniacal superstar player, and then, heaven's to glory, be blesses with ANOTHER, even bigger, maniacal all-star, superstar player via a second trade, would his ego really be all that hurt by it? Would he put his personal feelings on a shelve and refuse to pout about not being the biggest flounder in the tide pool any more?

Or would the tremendous burden of his ego weigh so heavily on his once gifted legs that he could not contribute anything to the common cause without griping about his lack of 'touches' and not getting the ball for any last second heroics like he once could smirk about to his loyal media whores?   

[jn]

Short analysis while I'm at work, longer one coming later. 

The Wolves now have some young talent but need to ditch a couple more players.  In particular Ricky Davis must go for reasons of attitude.  The awful Troy Hudson is now gone.

Obviously I will miss KG and his effort.  I'm also annoyed by his comments about Boston being "first class" and how he didn't feel enough loyalty from the Wolves. Please.  Taylor paid him insane money, allowed plenty of input from KG on personell moves and never tried to trade him somewhere he didn't want to be.  Failure to put a championship team together is not the same as disloyalty.   Also, how can anyone argue that Boston has been a "first class" organization in recent years?

[rickortreat]

It's a smart move by Boston- now their fans have something to cheer about, rather than jeering Ainge and their bad luck in the draft.

It's a lock for this team to be in the playoffs now, and in the Atlantic division, they are way above anyone else, including NJ.  This is something the Celtics fans haven't had for years, so it's a big improvement.

Contrast that with Philadelphia, where they are still trying to rebuild and recover from the Iverson era.  Before these trades, I would rather have watched the Sixers, not anymore!  Phila. might finally be a team to talk about when these 3 player for the Celtics retire!

The only problem is they still don't have a real center.  They have 2 forwards and a shooting guard.  Probably not enough to win the Championship.  Ainge and the Celts will need to get lucky and attract an older Center who'd like a shot at a ring.

[Derek Bodner]

just to play devil's advocate, do the spurs have a real center?

as for their other starting position, I actually really like Rondo at that spot.  His strengths are he's a good passer, a good penetrator, and a heckuva defender.  His weakness is his outside shot.  Playing with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and KG is possibly the best position he can be in.  One where his strengths are needed, and his weaknesses can be overcome.  As a starter last year he averaged 10.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 5.8 apg, and 2.4 spg, on solid percentages.  I'm excited to see what he does with the opportunity.

[rickortreat]

I would say that TD is more of a Center than KG, but it is a valid point.  But I doubt if Ainge and whoever he hires will be able to turn the Celts into the Spurs of the East.  The Spurs were together for a very long time and have a system that works very well.

Boston has 3-4 years with these guys at the top of their game if they're lucky.  It's possible their best days are behind them.  They have a couple of really good pieces, but it takes a talented coach to put them altogether into a team and the clock is ticking...

That won't matter when playing teams like the Sicksers, but when they play the true elite squads, they may have a difficult time being competitive.

I'm less of a fan then your are Derick, I don't know anything about the Celtics team other than these big three.  I guess we'll just have to wait until the regular season to see what kind of a "team" the Celtics have. KG will need help on the boards.  Pierce may have some trouble playing the small forward spot.  And without a decent point, they're going to underperform, IMO.