Celtic Pride Returns — KG sent to Boston
Posted by Andrew on July 30, 2007
After two years of waiting, the basketball world finally got what they’d been anticipating: Kevin Garnett is actually leaving Minnesota.
The Boston Celtics have agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves, a Celtics official told The Associated Press on Monday.
TMB has learned the players headed to Minnesota are forwards Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes, guard Sebastian Telfair, swingman Gerald Green and center Theo Ratliff. The Celtics official also said the Timberwolves would get at least one draft choice, and possible another if Boston agrees to send back the conditional first round selection they received from Minnesota in the Wally Szczerbiak – Ricky Davis trade in January of 2006.
For the Celtics, this has to be right up there with June 10th, 1980 — the day they essentially traded Joe Barry Carroll and a future first round pick to Golden state for Robert Parish and the third pick in the draft, Kevin McHale — as far as future significance. The Celtics are back in a big way, and should now be considered the clear-cut favorite in the East. If LeBron James can basically single-handedly take the Cavs to the NBA Finals through the Eastern Conference, you could basically put two towel boys on the floor with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Garnett and still win that Conference. They could go from having the worst record in the Conference to having the best record in the Conference the following year. Those Celtic fans that were so distraught following this year’s NBA Draft Lottery should be all smiles at this point. Let the Kool-Aid drinking begin!
Getting Garnett now should be an even bigger deal for the Celtics, since they’ve also added Allen since discussions initially broke down last month. Now the Celtics will have three perennial All-Stars, still in their prime, to compete for at least a couple of years.
Although Garnett said for years that he didn’t want to leave Minnesota, the way other teams in the Northwest Division have improved, coupled with the fact that Boston brought in Allen last month, likely meant Garnett started warming to the idea of changing zip codes. Boston’s cause might have been helped by the increasing possibility that becoming a Celtic or returning to Minnesota after he was so vigorously shopped were his only options.
The fact that Garnett apparently wanted out after being undeniably stung by the near-trade, certainly doesn’t mean he quit on Minnesota. Wanting to leave an organization that fails to surround you with talent and then tries to ship you out when you aren’t ready isn’t quitting. The recent events likely increased his growing frustration with McHale and owner Glen Taylor and left him hoping for an eventual trade to a contender.
As expensive as it’s going to be to employ a trio of All-Stars — especially since Garnett is eligible for a four-year extension next summer worth an estimated $116 million — Celtics management have apparently made the commitment to stray into the luxury-tax territory for the opportunity to team Garnett with Allen and franchise mainstay Paul Pierce in the Eastern Conference.
I’ve been as critical of Celtic GM Danny Ainge as anybody, but his work this summer certainly has to be mentioned. I still don’t think he has a clue when it comes to drafting young players, but his ability to bring in Allen and Garnett is nothing short of brilliant. I often wonder why other GMs who have control of losing organizations don’t do exactly what he did — trade the future assets for some immediate gratification.
Minnesota gets serious props from us on this trade as well. With Utah and Denver already looking like contenders in the West and Seattle and Portland drastically improving their teams for the future this summer, Minnesota would have likely been stuck in the cellar even if they had kept Garnett on board. They’ll likely be a bit worse without Garnett, but the trade will give them a great opportunity to improve on the same pace as Seattle and Portland.
They’ll likely get a top tier pick in next year’s loaded draft to add to a young core of Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Randy Foye, and Corey Brewer. Jefferson should a beast in the low post for years to come, even in the West. Gerald Green is versatile and athletic, and in the right situation, has a chance to be a prolific scorer. Sebastian Telfair, who’ll get a fresh start, may even be able to resurrect his career as well. At the same time, Ryan Gomes adds a solid role player who can play both forward positions, and the two first-rounders should be huge in the Wolves’ rebuilding effort.
Don’t underestimate the cap relief they’ll be getting either. The Wolves took back about $4 million less in contracts than they sent out. Toss in the expiring contracts of Ratliff, Ricky Davis, and, if he doesn’t pan out, Telfair, and it will take close to $20 million off the books in Minnesota next summer. That should put them on a similar page as their Northwestern Division counterparts in Seattle and Portland. Chalk the Northwest Division up as the best in basketball in two years — write it down.
July 30, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Great post–I can’t believe this is happening! Finally Ainge is making Celtics fans proud. Will Bill Simmons still say that the NBA is “stagnant” now? The Wolves were right to blow it up—they got a good deal for KG.
I think that anything that makes the East better is good for the NBA. Pundits talk about how stupid the seeding system in the NBA is, but the only reason it doesn’t work is because it’s easy to spot clear favorites in the NBA (they’re all in the West—people didn’t say that the Super Bowl happened in the conference finals when some of the last few NFL playoffs ended in lopsided games, because people hadn’t decided beforehand who the best 2 teams were), and because the East is so bad. The Pistons and Heat have won it all, but no one believes in them any more. An East team has to be dominant from start to finish to make people want to watch the finals.
July 31, 2007 at 1:42 pm
I totally agree. The East needs to start becoming relevant again, and this certainly helps that. Call me crazy, but with NJ keeping their team together, New York improving this summer, and Toronto already on their way, this division goes from being one of the worst to one of the best in one summer.
Plus, the Wolves did the right thing by blowing things up. They have some nice young assets now, and trading them if they don’t work out should be much easier than moving a big contract like KG’s anyway.
July 31, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Are we really getting some coin from Gatorade? That would be nice.
August 1, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Giving up 5 players and 2 first round draft picks for Kevin Garnett is alot. You have Pierce, Allen, and Garnett, not bad for the Celtics. But the last time I checked it was 5 on 5 not 3 on 5. The rebuilding the rest of the roster for the up coming season will either make or break the Celtics chances of winning a championship.
Celtics will have a good 2-3 year run and then they will have to start at square one because Allen, Garnett, and Pierce will be old. I am still suspect with the trade. Can these guys play together? They are not getting any younger!
I think Danny Ainge needs to look how John Paxson runs the
Bulls. You build on the draft! This is a temporary fix for the Celtics. These are some random thoughts going through my head.
August 2, 2007 at 2:25 am
Ainge had his chance to built through the draft, but instead he was going on lame personality tests and tanking in order to hit the jackpot with Durant or Oden. That strategy didn’t work. So he doesn’t have time for another 5-8 year plan. Ainge realized that he had assets, even if the team was no good. So he finally did the right thing and made the moves to win. True they only have three good players now. But Rondo is not a bad solution at point guard, and KG, Allen and Pierce all know how to pass and move the ball. The Celtics also have a better center than the Wolves did.
In 2-3 years the big three will be old, but they won’t fall off the planet. Those guys have a small window in which they can win big, but I don’t think they’ll be an embarrassment after that.
There are still some free agents out there that the Cs can go after. Playing with KG, Pierce and Allen will be pretty attractive to some guys.
August 2, 2007 at 8:27 pm
Both of you have good points, but the bottom line is that the team they had wasn’t winning, so here’s a chance to bring some excitment and pride back to the city of Boston, even if they don’t win it all. They sure gave up a lot, but building through the draft wasn’t a strength on Ainge’s, so he decided to go for the proven talent. It’s tough to argue with that.
August 5, 2007 at 7:00 pm
I think that while all three of these all-stars are in Boston they will win maybe one or possibly two titles. After that I see them becoming like Miami is right now. A bunch of really great players but there so old that they can’t keep up with the younger, faster, and quicker teams. I do like that Garnett is in the east for the same reasons that all of you have mentioned even though they’ll probably prevent my Bulls from reaching the title game.
June 4, 2008 at 4:54 pm
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