Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Danny Ainge Scores Big, McHale Makes Assist
No, it's not the 1980s again.
If you've been reading this blog, you know about the deal that transpired between last night and early this morning. Rick Pitino was wrong, and Kevin McHale did walk through that door and along with him came Kevin Garnett. The Boston Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, the expiring contract of Theo Ratliff, and two first round picks, one of which came to Boston in the Ricky Davis deal that occurred in January 2006.
As far as the trade goes, in my mind it's a great deal because the Celtics rosters consists of three players who share 22 NBA All-Star appearances between them. The big prize for Minnesota was obviously 22-year-old power forward Al Jefferson who had a break out season last year, averaging a double-double. In the words of Jan Volk*, who succeeded the legendary Red Auerbach as General Manager of the Boston Celtics, "Jefferson is a very good player and might be a terrific player one day, but Kevin Garnett is a great player right now." I couldn't have said it better myself. Volk added that "Red used to say that if you could trade quantity for quality, you should do it."
Another player Minnesota is probably excited about is Gerald Green, the 2007 dunk champion. Green is only 20 years old and has tremendous upside, but the Celtics could not wait for Green to develop. Gerald Green might become a decent player, but until he improves his awareness on the court and improves his "basketball IQ," he's a project at best.
The Celtics probably did not want to include Ryan Gomes in the deal, but it seems it was necessary to do this because of Garnett's trade kicker. Sebastian Telfair was probably a throw-in even though he had made improvements so far this off-season, and Ratliff was only in the deal for financial purposes.
Anyway, with the combination of this trade, as well as the Ray Allen deal, Danny Ainge has not only saved his job, but he has also made the Boston Celtics a top team in the NBA and the Eastern Conference. However, if the Celtics really want to win now, they need to use their bi-annual exception (formerly the million-dollar exception) and their mid-level exception to add players to the roster.
The Celtics need another big man and a backup point guard.
Big man:
A guy I like off the bench is P.J. Brown because he can play little defense off the bench and helps keep Brian Scalabrine on the bench. The thought of winning an NBA title may be enough to convince him to sign at the veteran's exception, which is slightly over $1 million.
Chris Webber may also be an option here, but he would probably ask for more money than the Celtics could afford. Otherwise, he would be very valuable off the bench.
Point Guard:
The options at point guard are limited. Earl Boykins would probably be a good fit here since he is a veteran point guard who had a PER of 16.30 in the 2006-07 season and had a salary under $3 million last season. The Celtics could sign him for about the same salary he had a year ago by breaking up the mid-level exception, and they would still have about $2.5 million to work with.
Some may wonder why I say they need a backup and not a starter, but I really believe that Rajon Rondo is going to be a very good player. No, he is not a very good player now, but he's good enough defensively and has enough awareness on the court to run the point. Keep in mind that this won't be a situation where the point guard handles the ball 90 percent of the time, Celtics fans know that Paul Pierce touches the ball quite a bit, which of course is why Pierce is always among the team leaders in assists per game.
The Celtics roster following the trade is as follows:
Center: Kendrick Perkins, Brian Scalabrine
Power Forward: Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe, Glen "Big Baby" Davis
Small Forward: Paul Pierce, Brandon Wallace
Shooting Guard: Ray Allen, Tony Allen
Point GuardRajon Rondo, Gabe Pruitt
With the additions of a few decent free agents, Ray Allen, and most importantly Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and the Celtics have a realistic chance of winning the franchise's 17th NBA Championship.
P.S. I think I can retract my "Fire Danny Ainge" statement from a few months ago.
Other Information: NBA Salary Cap FAQ
*Jan Volk worked with the Boston Celtics from 1971 to 1997 and was GM from 1984 to 1997. During his time with the Celtics, the franchise won 5 of its 16 championships. Mr. Volk has also worked with the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks.
If you've been reading this blog, you know about the deal that transpired between last night and early this morning. Rick Pitino was wrong, and Kevin McHale did walk through that door and along with him came Kevin Garnett. The Boston Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, the expiring contract of Theo Ratliff, and two first round picks, one of which came to Boston in the Ricky Davis deal that occurred in January 2006.
As far as the trade goes, in my mind it's a great deal because the Celtics rosters consists of three players who share 22 NBA All-Star appearances between them. The big prize for Minnesota was obviously 22-year-old power forward Al Jefferson who had a break out season last year, averaging a double-double. In the words of Jan Volk*, who succeeded the legendary Red Auerbach as General Manager of the Boston Celtics, "Jefferson is a very good player and might be a terrific player one day, but Kevin Garnett is a great player right now." I couldn't have said it better myself. Volk added that "Red used to say that if you could trade quantity for quality, you should do it."
Another player Minnesota is probably excited about is Gerald Green, the 2007 dunk champion. Green is only 20 years old and has tremendous upside, but the Celtics could not wait for Green to develop. Gerald Green might become a decent player, but until he improves his awareness on the court and improves his "basketball IQ," he's a project at best.
The Celtics probably did not want to include Ryan Gomes in the deal, but it seems it was necessary to do this because of Garnett's trade kicker. Sebastian Telfair was probably a throw-in even though he had made improvements so far this off-season, and Ratliff was only in the deal for financial purposes.
Anyway, with the combination of this trade, as well as the Ray Allen deal, Danny Ainge has not only saved his job, but he has also made the Boston Celtics a top team in the NBA and the Eastern Conference. However, if the Celtics really want to win now, they need to use their bi-annual exception (formerly the million-dollar exception) and their mid-level exception to add players to the roster.
The Celtics need another big man and a backup point guard.
Big man:
A guy I like off the bench is P.J. Brown because he can play little defense off the bench and helps keep Brian Scalabrine on the bench. The thought of winning an NBA title may be enough to convince him to sign at the veteran's exception, which is slightly over $1 million.
Chris Webber may also be an option here, but he would probably ask for more money than the Celtics could afford. Otherwise, he would be very valuable off the bench.
Point Guard:
The options at point guard are limited. Earl Boykins would probably be a good fit here since he is a veteran point guard who had a PER of 16.30 in the 2006-07 season and had a salary under $3 million last season. The Celtics could sign him for about the same salary he had a year ago by breaking up the mid-level exception, and they would still have about $2.5 million to work with.
Some may wonder why I say they need a backup and not a starter, but I really believe that Rajon Rondo is going to be a very good player. No, he is not a very good player now, but he's good enough defensively and has enough awareness on the court to run the point. Keep in mind that this won't be a situation where the point guard handles the ball 90 percent of the time, Celtics fans know that Paul Pierce touches the ball quite a bit, which of course is why Pierce is always among the team leaders in assists per game.
The Celtics roster following the trade is as follows:
Center: Kendrick Perkins, Brian Scalabrine
Power Forward: Kevin Garnett, Leon Powe, Glen "Big Baby" Davis
Small Forward: Paul Pierce, Brandon Wallace
Shooting Guard: Ray Allen, Tony Allen
Point GuardRajon Rondo, Gabe Pruitt
With the additions of a few decent free agents, Ray Allen, and most importantly Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and the Celtics have a realistic chance of winning the franchise's 17th NBA Championship.
P.S. I think I can retract my "Fire Danny Ainge" statement from a few months ago.
Other Information: NBA Salary Cap FAQ
*Jan Volk worked with the Boston Celtics from 1971 to 1997 and was GM from 1984 to 1997. During his time with the Celtics, the franchise won 5 of its 16 championships. Mr. Volk has also worked with the Denver Nuggets and Atlanta Hawks.
3 Comments:
This is amazing!
Can't wait.
You missed another new addition to the Patriots Roster. This is a Blockbuster!
http://corcorama.blogspot.com/
Great analysis. I agree on most points, though I wouldn't hold my breath on Chris Webber. He'd be a good fit, sure, but I think he'd rather go to a proven winner, like Dallas or back to Detroit. If he was willing to come to Boston he'd probably cost too much for a team that needs quantity over quality right now to fill up the bench.
I'm not so high on Earl Boykins. He's a decent scorer and can shoot, but he's 31 and is only going to get worse. Plus he's not much of a playmaker and the Celtics already have scoring. Brevin Knight is an option. He's a good pure PG, but he can't shoot either. He's also 31 and undersized (well not as undersized as Boykins, but still) Might as well stick with Rondo instead. I'd add Charlie Bell, who is more of a combo guard, but he's only 28, average size, and he can shoot.
Good article. Ainge finally did pull one through.
Here's my thoughts on how the trade occured: http://www.thebostonbachelor.com/2007/08/01/ainge-had-us-all-fooled/
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