Since Kevin Garnett has been an object of desire among both Pistons fans and the Detroit media (perhaps to the point of distraction) the past couple of seasons, I figured more than a few readers here would be interested in this. From the Boston Herald:
Sources this morning are confirming that the Celtics’ deal for Kevin Garnett is essentially completed.
One involved source said the final package will have the Celts sending Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and a No. 1 pick to Minnesota to acquire Garnett.
Further word is that the Celts and Garnett have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension. You may recall a report here that Danny Ainge would not do the deal without such a guarantee of Garnett’s presence, and it appears now that the perennial All-Star is willing to forego the opt-out in his current deal for next summer and cast his lot with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the Celtics.
My FanHouse colleagues have been all over this, but CelticsBlog was the first outlet (including blogs and mainstream media) to report anything on this, including that talks between the two clubs had revived in the first place — major props to the community over there for scooping the world.
So, does anyone really think the Celtics can’t make the playoffs with a starting trio of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and KG? I’m guessing the rest of the starting lineup would be Rajon Rondo at point and Kendrick Perkins at the five. I think they could do it. They don’t really have the depth to go far or secure home court advantage, but that’s certainly better than last year’s seven (an injury-riddled Washington) and eight seeds (the four and out Magic).
Update: There’s still confusion over who Boston is giving up — the Boston Globe is reporting that Jefferson is staying put and Boston is trading two first-round picks. For the sake of fans in Boston, I hope this doesn’t fall apart at the last second (again).
Seems like the Celtics have forsaken any kind of long term future for 1-2 years of contention. It’ll be interesting to see how that trio stacks up against other contending teams, but does anyone seriously think they can beat SA, Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, or Chicago? Not me.
Sure, they make the playoffs, but would being a 7 or 8 seed really make anyone there happy (players OR fans). The bigger issue is if they are title contenders and the answer is still probably no, right?
I see them winning the Atlantic Division; getting the No. 3 or 4 seed in the East; and making the Semi-Finals at the very least. They are good now…and I really hope this deal falls through because the East needs to be more competitive for the Pistons to realize they’re not the only ones playing.
I agree with Brad. This seems to go against Ainge’s whole mantra of rebuilding and not mortgaging away the future. Granted of course, that hasn’t worked out so hot, but this deals leaves them with a much smaller window of opportunity. It’s a big risk, and definitely a complete turnaround from the previous plan, but it’s KG (even if he is getting old), so how often does that chance come around? If the Celts do somehow manage to keep Big Al in the deal, so much the better for them, but their salary situation is going to be a huge mess too (Big Al is up for extension this year too).
no way sota makes the deal with out Big al. Not thinking that an extra 1st rounder or two would really go far considering that the celts won’t be back in the lotter for a couple of years now. Looks like the nuggs and jazz have the division to themselves for the next 2-3 years, too. Good to see something else making news in the nba.
Looks like Jefferson is back in the deal (or the reporter is finally back in the loop, however the case may be).
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I can’t stand Boston. Now I really can’t stand them even more. They bring solid players to the grave. Bye bye, KG.
If the trade is Jefferson, Green, Gomes, Telfair, Ratliff, and draft picks for just Garnett, unless the Celtics make some other move(s), their depth chart will look something like:
PG: Rondo, Pruitt
SG: Ray Allen, Allan Ray
SF: Pierce, Tony Allen
PF: Garnett, Powe, Glen Davis
C: Perkins, Scalabrine
Brutal- the best bench player is coming off a major knee injury and the second-best bench player is Brian Scalabrine. They also might be counting on one or more second-round draft picks panning out immediately. Allen, Pierce, and Garnett can’t play 48 minutes per game for 82 games, so they are in serious trouble when more than one of those guys is off the court at any given time.
Oh, and Ray Allen’s backups will be some combination of Tony Allen and Allan Ray. I wonder if Malik Allen is available?
Actually they waived Allan Ray a few days ago. I guess either Tony Allen will be backing up SG, they are going to acquire someone, or they are bringing in Flip Saunders and no longer have a need for a bench.
Or that this is the only way to keep rivers rotation down
They can have Flip Saunders.
I still say Phoenix should have tried to nab Garnett for Stoudamire. If I was Phoenix, I’d want to play within Steve Nash’s window for a championship, and it can’t be much longer than another few years. Garnett could have came in and given them some MUCH needed interior defense, and still have the same offensive impact as Stoudamire. Too bad that 3-way with Atlanta fell through.
Good pickup for Boston, though. I wonder if Garnett is cool with that? Didn’t he give an ultimatum saying if he didn’t go to a contender, he’d just opt out the next year anyways?
ESPN’s story is . . . KG’s unwillingness changed due to his recent digest of just how much lack of loyalty has been offered by Minnesota’s front office, in comparison.
I think I’m one of the few that don’t like this deal for Boston. Gerald Green could be a vince carter type player given enough burn, Al Jefferson will be a 20 and 10 guy for another 10 years and a high draft pick just for a guy who probably has 3 seasons left in his tank of high quality. I didn’t like the Ray Allen move either though. They probably would have been better off trading Pierce for more youth and just build around Big Al.
Ha- the Celt’s should sign Chris Webber as their starting 5. And Brevin Knight as their starting PG.
If Jefferson goes, Boston is getting ripped. I can see Rondo becoming more of a complete player, but Kendrick Perkins…
Their bench is like a D-League roster.
Whoops, I missed it up there - hit the “Flip = Bad Coach” siren!
Keegan, I suspect they believe more quality of their roster than the outside point of view, which is part of their problem.
Does anyone believe this Boston lineup fails to win the division from Toronto?
The more I think about it, this isn’t so bad for MN. I think Jefferson is a legitimate star. I also think Foye is a second-tier star. The Wolves get their pick back, which is going to be a high lottery pick, as well as a big expiring contract.
So the Wolves get everything you want in a mega-trade. A young player with upside, an expiring contract, and a lottery pick (a very, very high lottery pick). Further, between Boston’s low-mid 20’s pick, Green and Gomes, they are likely to emerge with one above-average player.
As far as Webber, you have to think he is going to Boston now. That fits all the way around.
Incidentally, how high are the Celtics on Tony Allen? High enough to turn down a Flip Murray trade? Joe, do you read this blog? Ainge is floating high right now. He’s ready to make a mistake.
This is the deal Danny Ainge HAD to make. Even with Jefferson included. When he shipped the #5 for Ray Allen, he chose the present over the future. That trade was a huge debacle without this follow-up move. Everyone’s right, Al Jefferson will be dominant for years to come, but he and Gerald Green weren’t going to get Ray Allen and Paul Pierce anywhere near the finals in the next 2-3 seasons (which will be all Allen’s going to have left). Neither were any of the other guys included in this trade. KG gives them legitimacy over that time frame.
On the other side, if they had kept the 5th pick, they would have had no choice but to deal Paul Pierce, because he won’t be the same contributor in 4-5 years - when Jefferson, Green, and the #5 pick would be potential contenders.
In the east, it’s hard to believe that a team with 3 true all-stars will not compete for home court in the playoffs. Ainge probably saved his job with this one.
At the very least, Ainge will be selling a lot of tickets.
Minnesota’s going to rely heavily on Jefferson. Blount is decent, but their bigs are spares. Craig Smith’s only 6′9″. Ratliff has a lot of miles on him. Madsen, anyone?
Ryan Gomes is a similar player to Corliss Williamson. He’s a good rotation player heavy on the offense, light on the defense. When I played around with the RealGM Trade Checker around draft day I was always trying to include Ryan Gomes as a backup at SF/PF for the Pistons. Gomes might go 15P, 7R, 2A, 1.5TO and shoot 48% from the field and 80% at the line next year. Not awesome but not hurting you either.
The deal’s a wash, straight up.
Boston has no depth, and not even Chris Webber can help them. He’d bog it down so slow out there, worse than Ervin Johnson for Minny in 03-04. Ervin fit better with Cassell’s pace, but Rondo’s on full tilt speed during seemingly every possession.
Minnesota has prospects and picks, but the same problem in Boston is in Minnesota. They have horrible GMs. If Kevin McHale drafts those two first rounders, it will not work as well as people expect.
The NBA continues to bore and irritate.
All we need now is Donaghy’s allegations of several Sixers, Nets, and Knicks players in on the scandal to turn up true, and David Stern’s same day attempt to pacify the disinterested youth by dropping Spalding for Nerf.
I think it’s a good deal for both teams. Obviously makes the Celts better, but not Championship better and Minny was losing KG soon anyway. They’ll have an exciting young core and the $$ to grab a vet or two … assuming there ever are any available.
Love the Nerf deal Sauce, and my names for the Donaghy Dufuses are:
Kyle Korver, Richard Jefferson and Starbury.
Wonder how Larry Bird and Pacers missed out on the Boston reunion?
I hope the Celtics wallow is misery forever.
KG in the Celtic green? yuck.
looks like they gave away the whole roser and some fuure picks for a shot at the playoffs….
“The Boston Celtics announced today that they have acquired 10-time All-Star and 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 first round draft pick (top three protected) and a return of Minnesota’s conditional first round draft pick previously obtained in the Ricky Davis-Wally Szczerbiak trade. Minnesota also receives cash considerations in the deal.”
http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/press073107-garnett.html
for a shot at the playoffs? Are you serious? they have 3 of the top 25-30 players in the league, in a weak division, in an average conference. Unless the wheels fall off, Celts are 2-3 seed in the east and in the conference finals. It’s the move that chicago should’ve made. All the noise about no bench? As long as doc keeps any one of them on the floor at a time, there’s scoring threat. Defense won’t be a strong point, but when’s the last time any team had 3 players of comparable talent playing in close to their prime? The rockets did with dream, clyde and barkley, but all 3 were showing significant signs of age at that time. I think the celts are legit.
The Celts are legit, but as we’ve found out the hard way, you can’t play your stars a bazillion minutes to carry you through the regular season and not expect a significant drop off at around the 90-95 game mark. And KG has about 290,000 miles on the odometer. There’s NO WAY he can play 40 minutes a night all season and then not have the wheels start to come off around the conference finals. Make no mistake, he’s going to have to play 40 minutes a night, have you seen the rest of their front court? Egads.
John Paxson should be fired immediately. How do you not give up Ben Gordon, Nocioni, the Knicks pick from this past year, PJ Brown’s expiring deal, and another part (either Sefalosha or Thomas, whoever) and get KG? They’d have absolutely won the East had they done this, had somebody to match up on Duncan, and basically play 4 on 4 with Ginobli and Hinrich taking turns flopping uncontrollably. I think the 8 man game benefits the Bulls, anyway. I find it hard to believe the Bulls wouldn’t have been competitive with Hinrich, Deng, KG, Big Ben, and whoever. Plus, who’s not to say that Minnesota wouldn’t have waved Brown immediately freeing him to return to Chicago (a la Hunter in 04)? I’d be pissed if I was a Bulls fan.
Crazy busy so I can’t really say too much but ummm yeah… ANYONE who seriously thinks all this does for Boston is make them a 7-8 seed is freaking insane. Injuries aside (and we’d be talking SEVERE ones, not the kind that make a dude miss 8 games), this is a VERY legitimate contender in the East.
You’re forgetting that Paul Peirce is the worst player of those 3… by a lot. KG is going to OWN vs the two types of bigs who populate the east (Fat, unathletic, overpaid or Skinny, weak and overpaid). Honestly as a Piston’s fan I consider this move quite troubling.
Of course depth is the weakness and “The Trio” in Boston isn’t any better than the one SA, Dallas or Phoenix uses. But umm it’s QUITE a bit better than what the Nets have and whenever they’re healthy they win the Atlantic and make at least the second round.
The Celtics are big winners in this deal. It is a win-now situation, as this core trio won’t be around for more than a couple years. The positive to it all is they’re all still in their primes. They will be exciting to watch and make defenses squirm and give them headaches. How do you double team Garnett when you leave Ray Allen open?
I can’t figure it out either…
Check me at http://www.clutch3.com
I love Other Matt’s take.
The Spin: you put your best front-court defender on Garnett to bother his shot. You can assume Rondo and Perkins and the entire Boston bench some defensive room. You will get burnt a little by the jacking shots of Allen and Pierce, but you will make up the difference by keeping the free-for-all from happening inside and outside.
Golden State and Phoenix and plenty of other teams (including Detroit, Cleveland series 07) will tell you that living on the perimeter eventually is a losing proposition.
I would get angry by Scalabrine and Perkins feeds for the dunk and resulting fist-pump, but I clearly wouldn’t feel comfy with getting ruined by KG on both ends of the court.
Pierce and Allen, in comparison, are not threats on defense - especially Allen.
yes, craig a shot at the playoffs.
they think trading will make it all good. now i love ray allen and i think KG is also a great player. But they have zero bench. they can’t play them a lot of minutes like other matt said and you have to take into account injuries (i think pierce was hampered by a few last season).
once not all three are on the court it’s a 2 on 5 or 1 on 5 situation. plus take into account that whoever does come off the bench KNOWS he won’t be the one taking the shots and you get a very unhappy locker room.
they gave up on two first round picks so the future is, well, history. A team can take a year to get their act together even if it’s full of professionals (which will be the official excuse for this year) and in two years the players can each go his own way.
it’ll be interesting to watch but i don’t think they can win a conference title not to mention become champs
I’m with OtherMatt. Those Rockets teams with the Big 3 never got over the hump, and they had an active Kevin Willis mopping up boards and putting in 10-15 points, and serviceable vets like Mario Elie and Eddie Johnson dumping in 10 apiece every night. I don’t think this is an imminent disaster for the Celts, but in three years it might be. You’ve mortgaged everything, and you can’t pad your roster because nobody in the West or East will want the garbage that you’d put on the trading block. Nobody in the East would help you at this point anyway.
I’ve heard rumorcrap that Troy Hudson is good friends with Garnett, and might also head to Boston, but that’s not making Danny’s Boys better, regardless of what trash he unloads. Maybe Leon Powe will explode.
Danny Ainge, quoted in today’s Dan Wetzel Yahoo column:
“This is going to be a lot of fun this year.”
Also:
“Nothing has been accomplished by this team.”
It’ll be one or the other.