I Hope He Got Game
| 5
|
by user Theredseat
Its funny how quickly a fan’s tune can change, mine changed a matter of hours. Yesterday I was talking about how anti-climatic the NBA draft was going to be for the Celtics, no matter what there wasn’t anything the C’s could do that would instantly make fans feel better – like getting Durant or Oden would have.
I guess deep down I was hoping the Celtics would pick Corey Brewer, assuming he was available (which he was) but I would have been alright with a player like Jeff Green too. Either guy would have helped the team but nothing was going to make them an instant contender. Well after all the trade talks one finally went down that sent Delonte West, Wally and the fifth pick (Jeff Green) to Seattle for Jesus Shuttlesworth (a.k.a. Ray Allen). I might be the only Celtics fan who is ok with moving on from D-West and as much as I like Wally he sucked in Boston and it’s good to see his contract numbers go. With that said my reaction to the trade was simply confusion.
I don’t see how adding Ray Allen immediately helps the Celtics. Now I’ve heard that the Celtics brought him in as a way to try and entice Kevin Garnett to come to Boston (my sources are Joey Hegarty, The Herald and WEEI on that one). If you have Pierce, Shuttlesworth and Garnett then the Celtics are an instant contender. Plus the rumored deal would send out Al Jefferson (remember I said rumored), Theo Ratliff’s contract and Bassy Telfair to Minnesota. I’d be pretty happy with that since getting Ratliff and Wally off the books frees up some money to go after another point guard, which the Celtics need. Of course if that deal does turn out to be rumor then I am still very confused about the Celtics draft day.
It’s one thing to make a move for a proven scorer and veteran player like Ray Allen. Even if it seems like Danny Ainge was trying to appease Paul Pierce. It’s quite another to proceed the rest of the way like Boston did. Now I’m not Steven A. Smith or Danny Ainge or any other “expert” or GM but Corey Brewer was available, he can play D and has the ability to score at times, to me he would have been a safe pick at five, but I digress.
The trade gave Boston a second, second round pick. At 32 and 35 the Celtics surely had some solid players available and I’m willing to give Gabe Pruitt and Glen “Big Baby” Davis their shot, what do we have to lose at this point? I can’t help but feel like Pruitt wasn’t the right pick to make. Personally I was hoping for Tauren Green, he’s a point guard with a decent shot that can run the floor, he was the point on two national championship teams, and he looked like a good fit to play behind Rajon Rondo. Don’t get me wrong I’ve been saying Rondo was a great pick from day one but he’s not going to play 48 minutes every night. The Celtics need a back up point guard not another three point shooting two-guard - And no Bassy isn’t going to cut it, I don’t like to just rip on people but he was awful last year.
In my opinion Danny Ainge is rapidly running out of chances to fix this mess that the C’s have become. They definitely over achieved when they went to the Eastern Conference Finals but they were better then 24 wins that’s for sure. Of course all of this could change if the Garnett rumors were to come true that would buy Danny some extra lives. Especially since they’d instantly be a contender, even with a poor coach. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens, I’m pulling for Gabe Pruitt, Big Baby and Jesus to prove me wrong…after all he got game.
