Garnett to Celtics talks back on

He makes a lot of the same points Devil and Philosopher makes, with the added thought that Ainge really lucked into.

Minnesota had a better offer on the table a month ago at the draft, and turned it down. Now they take this.

 

No doubt. In a few years, when Garnett and Allen are retired or broken down, Jefferson will still be an all-pro stud big man, Green's got the material to become an oustanding player, and who knows who those No. 1 picks they gave away will turn into. The T-wolves were going nowhere anyways, but this trade at least gives them a lot more building blocks for the future.

But it only works for Boston if it immediately gets them back to a championship level. Bu who will the other 2 starters be -- Brian Scalabrine and Rajon Rondo? Those guys were below par as backups this year, I can't see a team winning a championship with them starting. Point guard's become about the most important position in today's NBA and Rondo's nowhere near ready for that.

 

Hey, the Lakers won with Rambis. You can win with a guy that just sets picks at forward. The PG spot must have a solid player. Right now, Rondo does not win a title for you.

 

Which is why there might be more pressure on Rondo's shouders now than anyone. He abruptly went from a backup point guard on a rebuilding team to the starting point guard on a team that absolutely must play at a championship level this year or else. I doubt he's ready.

 

Well, now that I think about it...

Rondo at least can guard the other PG. There is no denying his ability to defend.

It will take some serious coaching, but you might be able to come up with an offense that does not require the pg to initiate the play. You cannot put Rondo on an island dribbling the ball at the top of the key or bring the ball up the court every possession.

But at the end of the game... Yeah, they can't win it with Rondo. No at this point in his career.

 

They had an even better offer from the Bulls a year ago -- the #2 pick, Luol Deng, and Tyson Chandler. The T-Wolves screwed this up once again.

By the way, the Bulls should be kicking themselves. They've lost out on the chance to get Gasol and Garnett. They passed on Randolph. I'm not sure there's a great low-post scorer out there for them, unless they can work out a deal for Jermaine O'Neal.

 

The Celtics absolutely need to add a veteran PG. Two names I've heard are Brevin Knight and Tyron Lue... not exactly Jason Kidd or Steve Nash, but still their experience alone would be an asset. If your Knight or Lue it would seem appealing to sign a short deal to play with those three scorers... their assist numbers would likely look pretty good when going for their next contract.

And again, the Celtics would have been in better shape in four years if they stayed young and didn't make either of these moves, but I really don't think Jefferson, Green, Green and West were a foundation for a champion team. Allen, Pierce and Garnett might not get it done, but it's far more certain than those young guys. It's all about winning the whole thing -- if at the same time you can set up the future, that's great -- but you can't always build toward something that may not come when you have a chance to do it right now.

The first round picks should help Minny, but presumably they'll be in the 20's so it's not like they're going to be getting lottery picks back.

 

Rondo can't put the ball in the ocean and is unexperienced, but let's not act like he's not a competent ball-handler. He can certainly handle bringing the ball up the floor and getting the team into its offense. He's not going to be asked to score, and he really won't even need to penetrate to create open shots because the other guys can create their own shots. There is certainly a lot on his shoulders, but playing with so many talented scorers should hide his major deficiency: shooting.

 

I'm a big fan of the deal for one reason: the youth movement didn't work, so why not do the opposite? It's obvious that Danny Ainge had good intentions in trying to re-stock the team, but those players were never going to mesh together. Perhaps Jefferson will emerge, perhaps he won't. But if they couldn't win with a lot of those younger guys (West, Jefferson, Green, etc.), then scrap it and move on.

 

If you look at that column, though, the interesting point to me is that Al Jefferson has two years to free agency. Couple that with the idea that Garnett is going to sign an extension, and presumably, Boston is better for that term until free agency. It might have been unlikely that Boston could keep him at that time, and it may be unlikely Minnesota can. I take two years of Garnett over that mish-mash of potential any day.

 

I don't understand ripping this trade. Honestly, Jefferson is still developing - and he's the only legit player the C's gave up. Gomes is a solid eighth man. Telfair is garbage. Green has a long way to go - he's the exact same player as Travis Outlaw, Dorrell Wright and all the ther super athletic players who have no b-ball IQ and don't seem to get better. The chances of him becoming a star are against him. And Jefferson hasn't exactly shown an ability to stay on the floor, nor recover well from injuries.

How often does youth movements work anyway? The Bulls are the only team in recent memory that I can think of that drafted a bunch of good players and let them grow up together. Every other youth movement success hinged on drafting one star player - LeBron, Wade, Melo - and building around him. The C's banked on getting Oden/Durant, and once they didn't, then they had to do rebuild since their nucleus as it was was garbage.

 

The Celtics have been building for more than a decade. They're making out pretty well on this deal. They give up a bunch of young talent they weren't going to be able to sign in a few years in exchange for instant credibility. It was said all through the NBA playoffs that it takes three stars to win a title in the league; now Boston has them.

If the Celtics aren't among the top three teams in the Eastern Conference with the addition of Garnett, there's something wrong.

I think this is going to hurt the Timberwolves a lot more than it'll help. I see the attendance taking a drastic hit, and I really don't think Jefferson is going to be as good as a few of you folks are predicting. Garnett was the franchise. I don't blame his for being frustrated with Minnesota's management for a second.