Of course as we all know that the big news of the off-season is the Celtics’ acquisition of “The Big Ticket” Kevin Garnett. The minds of every fan can’t help but to envision banner #17 hung in the rafters (and possibly #18 or even #19 before the new Big Three are gone). However, it wasn’t too long ago that no one had much of a clue what Danny Ainge was up to; Ray Allen wasn’t going to bring The Green to glory, and if Ainge gave up the #5 pick in the draft to becoming a team merely above .500 and in the 6 or 7 spot in the playoffs, is he really fit for the job? So what if the Suns warmed to the idea of parting with Amare Stoudemire and made the swap for Garnett before we were fortunate enough to pry him from the McHales’ grasp? All we would have is a mediocre team with an unhappy locker room and Pierce another year closer to retirement. Now let’s rewind the clock back before Draft Night and put ourselves in the Celtics war room. What if they decided to rebuild instead of attempting to cash in now? What would be the best possible move to make?
Well here are some criteria that would lead us to the proper conclusion:
1. Part of the deal would need to include a top 10 draft pick to go along with our #5 pick. The #1 and #2 pick are obviously out because neither Portland nor Seattle would be crazy enough to part with one of the Oden/Durant tandem. This would make possible trade partners in order of picks: Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Charlotte, Chicago, and Sacramento.
2. The partnering team would need to be one star away from becoming a force and possibly make a push for a championship. That star of course would be Paul Pierce and this narrows the teams down to Memphis, Minnesota, and Chicago.
3. Preferably the Celtics would want to trade Pierce out of conference so he wouldn’t go Kobe Bryant on us whenever we faced off. This of course knocks out Chicago and leaves Memphis and Minnesota as the possible trade partners.
The next step is asking the question, “Who desires Paul the most and has the pieces that will give the Celtics the best chance to win in the future?” On first though one may say, “That’s easy, Minnesota. A Garnett and Pierce combination is as good as any duo in the league.” However, I believe on the contrary; that a trade with Memphis would benefit both teams more.
First of all after the trade was complete Memphis would have a better surrounding cast for The Truth and Pau Gasol than Minnesota would for Paul and KG (these players are before the trade):
Minnesota Memphis
Randy Foye Rudy Gay
Rashard McCants Hakim Warrick
Craig Smith Stromile Swift
Marko Jaric Kyle Lowry
#7 pick #4 pick
Not only is the talent in favor of Memphis but the contract matching situation is as well.:
Minesota Memphis
Jaric (4 years x 6m) Swift (1 year x 5.8m)
Trenton Hassell (3 years x 5.95m) Damon Stoudemire (2 years x 4.35m)
With these two factors in mind, deals involving each team would probably look like this:
Minnesota Memphis
Give Receive Give Receive
Jaric Pierce Swift Pierce
Hassell Stoudemire Rondo
Foye Gay Green
#7 #4
Main Players After Trade
Minesota Memphis
Garnett Pierce
Pierce Pau Gasol
Ricky Davis Hakim Warrick
Mark Blount Mike Miller
Rashard McCants Rondo Smith Green
Well here are some criteria that would lead us to the proper conclusion:
1. Part of the deal would need to include a top 10 draft pick to go along with our #5 pick. The #1 and #2 pick are obviously out because neither Portland nor Seattle would be crazy enough to part with one of the Oden/Durant tandem. This would make possible trade partners in order of picks: Atlanta, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Charlotte, Chicago, and Sacramento.
2. The partnering team would need to be one star away from becoming a force and possibly make a push for a championship. That star of course would be Paul Pierce and this narrows the teams down to Memphis, Minnesota, and Chicago.
3. Preferably the Celtics would want to trade Pierce out of conference so he wouldn’t go Kobe Bryant on us whenever we faced off. This of course knocks out Chicago and leaves Memphis and Minnesota as the possible trade partners.
The next step is asking the question, “Who desires Paul the most and has the pieces that will give the Celtics the best chance to win in the future?” On first though one may say, “That’s easy, Minnesota. A Garnett and Pierce combination is as good as any duo in the league.” However, I believe on the contrary; that a trade with Memphis would benefit both teams more.
First of all after the trade was complete Memphis would have a better surrounding cast for The Truth and Pau Gasol than Minnesota would for Paul and KG (these players are before the trade):
Minnesota Memphis
Randy Foye Rudy Gay
Rashard McCants Hakim Warrick
Craig Smith Stromile Swift
Marko Jaric Kyle Lowry
#7 pick #4 pick
Not only is the talent in favor of Memphis but the contract matching situation is as well.:
Minesota Memphis
Jaric (4 years x 6m) Swift (1 year x 5.8m)
Trenton Hassell (3 years x 5.95m) Damon Stoudemire (2 years x 4.35m)
With these two factors in mind, deals involving each team would probably look like this:
Minnesota Memphis
Give Receive Give Receive
Jaric Pierce Swift Pierce
Hassell Stoudemire Rondo
Foye Gay Green
#7 #4
Main Players After Trade
Minesota Memphis
Garnett Pierce
Pierce Pau Gasol
Ricky Davis Hakim Warrick
Mark Blount Mike Miller
Rashard McCants Rondo Smith Green
Kyle Lowry
Darko Milicic (signed in off-season, would still the cap room)
Celtics Assests Post-Trade: Minnesota
PG: Rondo West Hassell #5, #7, #31
SG:Foye T. Allen
SF: Gomes Szcerbiack Green
PF: Jefferson Powe Scalabrine
C: Perkins Ratliff
In this scenario, the Celtics seem to be underutilizing talent like Gerald who is stuck behind Ryan and Wally, and whose value could have been better used in a trade. Also, we have Hassel and Jarics’ contracts for a few years when they do not really add much benefit to the team.
Celtics Assests Post-Trade: Memphis
PG: Damon Stoudemire Sebastian Telfair Pick #4,#5,#31
SG: Delonte West Tony Allen
SF: Ryan Gomes Wally Sczerbiack Rudy Gay
PF: Al Jefferson Leon Powe/Brian Scalabrine
C: Kendrick Perkins Theo Ratliff Stromile Swift
The obvious need right off the bat is a good young starting point guard and who better to go with than Mike Conley who Memphis ended up selecting this year. Conley is a lighting quick, Tony Parker like point guard who was far and beyond the best point guard prospect in this draft. That takes care of the #4 selection. The Celtics would have a few options with the #5 pick. I believe that the best bet for the Celtics would be going with Florida Gator’s Alum Corey Brewer. Brewer would give the Celtics another athletic wing, but this time whose calling card is defense. He is a proven winner and could be a vital part to a championship level team down the road. With #31 the Celts would presumably go with Big Baby Davis who fills more of a need now than Gabe Pruiit.
The final roster:
PG: Mike Conley Damon Stoudemire
Celtics Assests Post-Trade: Minnesota
PG: Rondo West Hassell #5, #7, #31
SG:Foye T. Allen
SF: Gomes Szcerbiack Green
PF: Jefferson Powe Scalabrine
C: Perkins Ratliff
In this scenario, the Celtics seem to be underutilizing talent like Gerald who is stuck behind Ryan and Wally, and whose value could have been better used in a trade. Also, we have Hassel and Jarics’ contracts for a few years when they do not really add much benefit to the team.
Celtics Assests Post-Trade: Memphis
PG: Damon Stoudemire Sebastian Telfair Pick #4,#5,#31
SG: Delonte West Tony Allen
SF: Ryan Gomes Wally Sczerbiack Rudy Gay
PF: Al Jefferson Leon Powe/Brian Scalabrine
C: Kendrick Perkins Theo Ratliff Stromile Swift
The obvious need right off the bat is a good young starting point guard and who better to go with than Mike Conley who Memphis ended up selecting this year. Conley is a lighting quick, Tony Parker like point guard who was far and beyond the best point guard prospect in this draft. That takes care of the #4 selection. The Celtics would have a few options with the #5 pick. I believe that the best bet for the Celtics would be going with Florida Gator’s Alum Corey Brewer. Brewer would give the Celtics another athletic wing, but this time whose calling card is defense. He is a proven winner and could be a vital part to a championship level team down the road. With #31 the Celts would presumably go with Big Baby Davis who fills more of a need now than Gabe Pruiit.
The final roster:
PG: Mike Conley Damon Stoudemire
SG: Delonte West Tony Allen (cut Powe/Telfair)
SF: Rudy Gay Wally Sczerbiack Corey Brewer
PF: Al Jefferson Ryan Gomes Brian Scalabrine
C: Stromile Swift Kendrick Perkins Theo Ratliff
This would leave the Celtics with a very solid core group of young guys to build around and with over 30 million coming off books in the next 2 years with the expiring contracts of Ratliff, Sczerbiack, Stoudemire, and Swift. There are players who have legitamit shots of becoming stars and solid contributors to any team. Now the Celtics have a few years to evaluate the talent, lock up who they want and have room for a free agent signing. I believe in the end we would have locked up Conley, Brewer, Gay and Big Al (playing the 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively), and would have put together a hell of a team.
In no way am I against what Danny Ainge has been able to accomplish during this off-season. However, the Celtics did need to choose a direction, either stay young or go for it all. I believe if the decision was to go young then the Celtics could have a legitimite chance to compete consistently for an NBA Championship in 3 years.. Maybe the young guys may not have turned out how we would all have hoped like which is all too familiar, but maybe the Celtics new revamped team will never click either. The only certainty is that one way or another the Celtics were going to be an exciting team to watch either with young talent or all-star veterans running the show, and I like thousands of fans can once again be proud to say our team is the Boston Celtics.
SF: Rudy Gay Wally Sczerbiack Corey Brewer
PF: Al Jefferson Ryan Gomes Brian Scalabrine
C: Stromile Swift Kendrick Perkins Theo Ratliff
This would leave the Celtics with a very solid core group of young guys to build around and with over 30 million coming off books in the next 2 years with the expiring contracts of Ratliff, Sczerbiack, Stoudemire, and Swift. There are players who have legitamit shots of becoming stars and solid contributors to any team. Now the Celtics have a few years to evaluate the talent, lock up who they want and have room for a free agent signing. I believe in the end we would have locked up Conley, Brewer, Gay and Big Al (playing the 1, 2, 3, and 4 respectively), and would have put together a hell of a team.
In no way am I against what Danny Ainge has been able to accomplish during this off-season. However, the Celtics did need to choose a direction, either stay young or go for it all. I believe if the decision was to go young then the Celtics could have a legitimite chance to compete consistently for an NBA Championship in 3 years.. Maybe the young guys may not have turned out how we would all have hoped like which is all too familiar, but maybe the Celtics new revamped team will never click either. The only certainty is that one way or another the Celtics were going to be an exciting team to watch either with young talent or all-star veterans running the show, and I like thousands of fans can once again be proud to say our team is the Boston Celtics.
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