The Bratwurst - Milwaukee Bucks Blog

The headline on the Boston Globe website: C’s get Garnett.

According to the Globe, the trade is Garnett for Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair and two first round picks (one of which actually originally belonged to Minnesota and went to Boston in the Ricky Davis/Wally Szczerbiak trade).

The trade will probably take a couple of days to complete and be approved by the league office, since Garnett will most likely be negotiating a contract extension with the Celtics first.  But that doesn’t keep me from offering an opinion on the deal:

What a slam dunk for the Celtics.

This deal has been rumored for months, and the sticking point has always been Boston’s refusal to give up Al Jefferson, and rumors just a few hours ago said that Jefferson was not part of the deal.  But how much playing time would Jefferson supposedly get behind Garnett?  He’s not going to get better by sitting behind Garnett for 3-4 years and it would ruin his career.  So finally Ainge woke up and realized that to get something he has to give up something and with Garnett he doesn’t need Jefferson.

Boston gets the most versatile player in the NBA — a great defender, ballhandler and rebounder.  Garnett’s only flaw — go-to scoring ability is completely unnecessary on Boston.  My own player ranking system — which I call IPM (and will be discussed in a later post) had KG ranked as the fifth best player in the league last year. 

What does Boston give up?

Al Jefferson: a solid, young player with All-Star potential.  Statistically, Jefferson could become a perennial 20/10 guy like Garnett, but he will never have the defensive impact of KG.  I have Jefferson as the #39 player last year.  He’s good, maybe even an all-star one day.  But he’s no KG and never will be.

Gerald Green: Supposedly a T-Mac clone who may develop into a guy who can score at will.  However, after two seasons McGrady was showing some signs of greatness while Green (besides winning the slam dunk contest) has shown nothing more than low percentage shooting (42%) and no interest in defense.  The fact that Green only played 22 mpg on a team that was basically trying to lose is a major red flag to me.  Why not develop him with more time?  That says to me that the Celtics were trying to hide his flaws as they shopped him around.  He was the #271 player last year, and while he has loads of potential, I think the odds are growing long that he ever reaches it.

Ryan Gomes: a workmanlike, undersized backup tweener forward.  He’s a decent energy guy who has overcome his lack of size to become the 228th best player in the NBA.  Too bad Minnesota has a better version of him in Craig Smith.

Sebastian Telfair: He’s awful.  The 310th best player in the league.  Can’t shoot.  Can’t play D.  Character and entourage questions.  Boston gave up the farm for him last year and then announced that he would never play for them again after the season.  What’s most interesting about Telfair being included in the deal is that Kevin McHale couldn’t force Boston into including Rajon Rondo instead.  Rondo is a better player in every way, and now Boston is able to retain a point guard to fill out their 3 Amigo’s lineup.

Minnesota will also receive 2 first rounders — one will be Boston’s, and will probably be pretty low, and the other will be Minnesota’s.  However that pick may wind up in LA, as they owe the Clippers one for allowing them to steal Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric a couple of year ago.  How does McHale still have his job again?

It’s simple: this trade makes Boston the Eastern Conference favorite.  Injuries should be the only thing that could derail this.  A lineup of Perkins, Rondo, Pierce, Garnett and Allen will be very tough to stop and fun to watch.  I think they will be right there with Chicago in the end.

It’s a pretty horrible deal for Minnesota, but probably the best they could manage.  Jefferson is a somewhat able replacement for Garnett and in 2 years they will be set to have some significant cap room and (finally) some draft picks.

I know one thing: there’s no way I’m missing Boston’s first trip into the Bradley Center this year.