Haven't We Covered This?
| 12
|
As seen on Six Pack Sports Report
Living in the Boston area during this time of year you recognize a pretty standard formula that all the newspapers take to covering sports. Half the sport section is covered with Red Sox pennant chase fever, and the other half is full of pictures of Tom Brady in a red jersey throwing passes to some kid from Boston College who doesn't stand a chance of making the final 53 man roster. Which is why I am absolutely speechless to see a Boston Celtics story on the - get this - front page today. In this area for the Celtics to be on the front page of the newspaper it usually means that A) Paul Pierce was stabbed outside a nightclub, B) Sebastian Telfair was caught with a gun trying to get on a plane, or C) Kevin Garnett is coming to Boston. I'm just as surprised as you are that the answer seems to be C.
Now before I get excited I should note that this KG to Boston rumor has the staying power of Tim Allen's career. I'm just as shocked as you that it's still around but just when you think it's dead - Santa Clause 15 is released and we're right back to where we started. It appears though that this time the rumor has some legs, and it might be just a matter of time before we can officially announce Kevin Garnett as a member of the Boston Celtics. The proposed/rumored deal seems to be the T-Wolves sending one of the most versatile big men in the history of the NBA to Beantown for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Teflair and Theo Ratliff. There also is some speculation that the Celtics will have agreed to a contract extension for KG in the 5 year $125 million range. Obviously this deal is a last ditch effort for Danny Ainge to save his job. The man come to Boston with the purpose of getting younger and building a championship contender - he has done one of those two things after spending the last 4 years doing the other of those two things. I'm not sure Ainge ever had a plan other then stockpiling young players and hoping a franchise player fell in the lap of the Celtics. It now seems that it might wind up getting him an Eastern Conference Championship run before the townspeople show up at his door with torches. The sticking point of the deal is Al Jefferson. He's easily the second most popular and might even be the most popular player the Celtics have right now (behind Paul Pierce). He does seem to be made out of paper mache which is why I'm not terribly sad to see him go but there was no denying the kids offensive talent. He was a matador on defense which was a huge negative on a team full of guys who don't know how to play defense being coached by a guy who couldn't stop a small child from scoring 20 points a night. But he had a solid (if unpolished) offensive game with a short hook and a strong first step and might someday develop into a dominant presence on the offensive side of the ball. The other players in the deal were filler. Gerald Green has a lot of promise and I would hate for this to turn into Toronto trading Tracy McGrady. But I think Gerald played himself out of Boston in the Summer League where by all accounts he was unspectacular at best, lousy at worst. Sebastian Telfair had to know that starting the season in Boston was a pipe dream since Wyc Grousbeck the owner removed his name from the locker room last season and no matter how well he played in the Summer League there just was no chance Bassy saw the floor for the Celtics again. Theo Ratliff is old - that pretty much covers it right? Now it looks like the Celtics will enter the 2007 - 2008 NBA regular season with a lineup consisting of Kendrick Perkins, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo. In the Western Conference that is a good team - in the Eastern Conference that is at least an Eastern Conference championship contender. I mean we all remember Lebron James and the 4 Tops playing in the NBA Finals last season right? Which team in the East is going to be able to put the defensive pressure on that starting 5 of the Celtics in a playoff series?
Pierce is the prototypical second banana. He's uber talented on the offensive side of the ball but he doesn't play as well with the weight of the entire franchise on his shoulders. With KG in the mix that won't be an issue anymore because there is no more vocal player in the league than Kevin Garnett which should deflect some of the pressure from Pierce and allow him to be that dominant threat that we all remember from the Antoine Walker years. You want to talk about creating an inside/outside threat how about KG in the East with Ray Allen on the outside lighting the scoreboard up? This trade has all the makings of reviving basketball in Boston - a feat the seriously didn't seem possible on May 22nd. I think if the Celtics went into the season with the team as constituted pre-KG there was a real possibility that the New England Revolution would be knocking them off the back page of the Herald (at least the Revs contend for championships). But this move makes all the sense in the world - sure you have to give up Al Jefferson a very strong offensive player. But you replace him with one of the Top 15 players in the NBA. Even Danny Ainge is smart enough to realize that time is running out on the Paul Pierce era and if you're going to make a move this is the time to do it. Most of the teams in the East didn't get a whole lot better this off season. The Knicks got better but they'll be led by the space cadet that is Stephon Marbury so there isn't much to worry about there. The Raptors and Bulls are both quality teams with a young nucleus but do you think either of those teams has the horses to play again KG, Pierce, Allen? Then you've got Lebron James and the Pips and while I respect the hell out of Lebron there is just no chance that he can lead that team to the finals again with the East actually looking to have some quality depth. Will I miss Al Jefferson? Of course. But I remember being at the Insert Sponsorship Name Here Generic Arena when the Celtics were playing meaningful basketball games and it was fun. I am a huge basketball fan which is something that was really hard in Boston when Paul Pierce was sulking, and Doc Rivers was being out coached by the Malden High School Principle every night. This KG deal (assuming that it does in fact happen) brings some excitement back to the Garden and while you might not win a championship with this nucleus there was a good chance you weren't getting one with Al Jefferson either. At least now we have something to talk about.
It also should be noted how terrible the Timberwolves are going to be this season. The fact that Kevin McHale still has a job should be an inspiration to slackers and lousy employees everywhere (I'm looking at your SPSR Nation). They are looking at a team with Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green and Theo Ratliff. Am I crazy or is McHale looking at the moves Danny Ainge does and then thinks to himself "holy shit I need those guys on MY team." Because clearly he didn't notice when this combination of players was an absolute trainwreck in Boston - I'm sure playing in Minnesota will make it all better though.
If you had told me that during the end of July I'd be talking about the Celtics I would've thought you were nuts. That's the power of KG - and now let's just hope this time the rumor becomes reality because much like Tim Allen's career I'm ready for this to be over.
