Ainge Convinces A Talented Player To Come To Boston; America Left To Wonder Who Sucked Whose Dick
I can't believe it, but I think I actually have to congratulate Danny Ainge on a job well done. Not so much with the trade itself, but the job of managing generally done by Mr. Ainge today. He somehow managed to avoid every single draft day fiasco I feared, and improved the team using peripheral depth, abstract ideas (i.e. cap space), and draft picks. Big picture reaction... I'm pretty impressed.
The trade itself is a mixed bag. We'll start with my dislikes:
* I'm not happy to see Delonte West go. He's going to shine in a Chauncey Billups kind of way someday, once he's given a real chance by a real coach. I always liked him. Shame.
* Neither am I thrilled about losing out on the underrated Jeff Green, who will be a fantastic second/third option behind Durant.
* On the Celtics side, Ray Allen isn't all that great. Going strictly by the package arriving in Boston, Allen is a pretty crappy second prize given that we've been hearing about KG and Shawn Marion for a week. He's not even a Paul Pierce let alone a KG.
* Finally, it wouldn't be a Jeff Doucette joint if I didn't mention that none of the roster moves mean jack shit with Doc Rivers, whose only possible doctoral degree would have to be in Blithering Idiocy Studies, still calling the "plays" from the bench. (Like Doc, I use the term "plays" loosely.) As long as he's running this thing, his team's ceiling is "getting smoked on the road in the first round by a shitty team like Toronto or New Jersey," and nobody, not even KG, can overcome that.
That said, given that nobody's going to do anything about Doc, each of these positives is more important than the negatives:
* They didn't overpay for an aging superstar. They paid fair value for one.
* They kept Al Jefferson.
* They kept Pierce.
* The team is better. Maybe not far better, but better.
They traded three quarters for a dollar. It may be a Sacajawea dollar, but it's still a dollar.
So it seems the heavy offseason lifting is over, pending further loony requests from Pierce. Now that there's a break in the action, perhaps Celtics ownership should figure out why the hell EVERYONE refuses to play for their team. And once they figure out what it is, fire it.
I can't believe it, but I think I actually have to congratulate Danny Ainge on a job well done. Not so much with the trade itself, but the job of managing generally done by Mr. Ainge today. He somehow managed to avoid every single draft day fiasco I feared, and improved the team using peripheral depth, abstract ideas (i.e. cap space), and draft picks. Big picture reaction... I'm pretty impressed.
The trade itself is a mixed bag. We'll start with my dislikes:
* I'm not happy to see Delonte West go. He's going to shine in a Chauncey Billups kind of way someday, once he's given a real chance by a real coach. I always liked him. Shame.
* Neither am I thrilled about losing out on the underrated Jeff Green, who will be a fantastic second/third option behind Durant.
* On the Celtics side, Ray Allen isn't all that great. Going strictly by the package arriving in Boston, Allen is a pretty crappy second prize given that we've been hearing about KG and Shawn Marion for a week. He's not even a Paul Pierce let alone a KG.
* Finally, it wouldn't be a Jeff Doucette joint if I didn't mention that none of the roster moves mean jack shit with Doc Rivers, whose only possible doctoral degree would have to be in Blithering Idiocy Studies, still calling the "plays" from the bench. (Like Doc, I use the term "plays" loosely.) As long as he's running this thing, his team's ceiling is "getting smoked on the road in the first round by a shitty team like Toronto or New Jersey," and nobody, not even KG, can overcome that.
That said, given that nobody's going to do anything about Doc, each of these positives is more important than the negatives:
* They didn't overpay for an aging superstar. They paid fair value for one.
* They kept Al Jefferson.
* They kept Pierce.
* The team is better. Maybe not far better, but better.
They traded three quarters for a dollar. It may be a Sacajawea dollar, but it's still a dollar.
So it seems the heavy offseason lifting is over, pending further loony requests from Pierce. Now that there's a break in the action, perhaps Celtics ownership should figure out why the hell EVERYONE refuses to play for their team. And once they figure out what it is, fire it.
posted by Jeff at
12:08 AM
7 Comments:
Really? Garnett wouldn't be able to keep a team from getting smoked on the road in the first round? Hatehatehatehatehate.
By
chas, at 1:55 AM
OK, fine. KG, one of the best players ever, could maybe get them into the second round. Maybe.
For what it's worth, what about KG makes him the antidote to first-round losses? Prior to 2004 he was the poster boy amongst elite players for bowing out early. There were other circumstances, sure, but it's still a curious choice of players for that particular argument.
Either way, who cares? The point is they aren't going anywhere important (i.e. Finals) without a coach who gets results.
By
Jeff, at 11:58 AM
OT, but in my copy of the New York Times this morning, there was a big photo on the front Sports page of Frank Thomas. The caption described the Big Hurt as "the 21st players to reach the 500-home run mark." Too funny.
By
Gabe, at 2:23 PM
Actually, I was being sarcastic about Garnett's ability to get past the second round. And then hatehatehated at myself for bringing it up when it's not an entirely fair argument.
By
chas, at 5:45 PM
STOP HIDING BEHIND YOUR SILLY "TRUTH," CHAS BUDNICK
Sorry, my sarcasm meter is malfunctioning today. It led to a humorless rant about Allen's detractors. It's so humorless that I decided my joke about LeBron getting raped by a tiger wouldn't fit with the rest of the post.
By
Jeff, at 6:52 PM
(referring of course to the post right after this one)
By
Jeff, at 6:52 PM
I don't think Garnett deserves much blame for the failures of the T-Wolves, but I agree selling the farm for him would have been a mistake for the Celtics. Pierce is better than Cassell, obviously, but it's tough to see the team being that much better than those teams were.
By
Jesse, at 10:04 PM
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