I expected it to happen. I knew he'd lost control. When he started a fire on main street and shot it full of holes.
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by Tyduffy
Marc Stein is reporting on ESPN.com that trade talks are up and running again between the Celtics and Timberwolves for Kevin Garnett. In the proposed deal, Boston would get Garnett and Minnesota would get F Al Jefferson and Theo Ratliff's expiring contract. Garnett had previously hinted that he did not want to play in Boston, but has reportedly softened his stance.
Does this make the Celtics significantly better? Kevin Garnett is 31 years old, and an old 31 at that (having come to the NBA out of high school). He is probably at best, about a 20-10 guy for a couple more seasons. The Celtics would be giving up Jefferson who was a 16-10 guy last year with upside and cap room that could be used to go out and get another player. In addition, they Celts would take a huge cap hit when Garnett's salary balloons up to $23 million with the $6.75 million trade kicker. Garnett is certainly better, but much older and on the back nine of his career. For what the Celtics would have to give up, this trade would not really improve them.
The justification for this trade would be that, in a weak Eastern Conference, it would make the Celtics instant contenders. But is that really the case? They would still have neither a center, nor proven point guard, both generally prerequisites for title winning teams. The combo of Paul Pierce, KG, and an aging Ray Allen coming off double ankle surgery does not make them the odds-on favorite to win the East. Detroit, Chicago, a healthy Miami, the LeBrons, and even New Jersey would probably still be better. At best, Boston would perhaps be a 4th or 5th seed and make it to the second round. Is this enough to once again mortgage the future of the franchise?
Once again, Danny Ainge has shown the complete inability to either formulate a coherent plan for success, or stick to one. The team was planning to build for the future last season, and now, after the lottery balls did not go there way, they all of a sudden feel they have the pieces in place to compete for a title? This rebuilding on the fly job strongly resembles 2005 where Antoine Walker was brought back to make the Celtics a contender, and they ended up falling flat in the first round. The only thing it would accomplish would be to display enough improvement to allow Ainge to hold on to his job.
Apparently, a nucleus of three un-proven winners, an un-proven coach, and an un-proven GM is supposed to turn the magic on and win an NBA title? Not likely. Things are almost to the point where Celtics' fans are almost rooting for this to be a spectacular failure to get Ainge away from the team. There is only one way that Ainge and Doc Rivers will ever appear together at the NBA finals, covering it on television.
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