I was watching one of my favorite sports shows, Washington Post Live on Comcast SportsNet, when the host Russ Thaler said, about the reported KG trade, “this changes the whole balance of power… do we have a new favorite in the East?” I understand why Russ was asking the question. On paper the Celts have three All-Star caliber performers in KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. An issue that I have with creating their reservations for the Eastern Conference finals is…
- They play a team sport and each of the Celts version of the “Big three” is used to being the man on his previous team, as such we do not know how well they will jell playing with each other and taking fewer shots
- Just because a team has three prolific scorers, does not mean that it will translate into a playoff success. The last that I checked the Wizards have had the highest scoring trio over the last couple years
- While it appears that the Celts have improved themselves greatly, there are still other teams in the East that they will have to contend with – Pistons, Cavs, Bulls, Heat, Wizards, Bucks, etc
- At times, some franchises are just cancerous and even though you bring “talent” to them the cancerous franchises ruins the talent – see Oakland Raiders as one such example
- Their version of the big three is getting old, which means that their window is not open very wide. KG is a a 12 year vet, Jesus Shuttleworth, I mean Ray Allen is a 11 year vet (but one year older than KG) and Paul Pierce is a 9 year vet. There big three is or will all be 30 years or older at the start of the season. And while 30 might be the new 20, it is getting a bit long in the tooth for NBA stars – especially for those who have had to be their team’s focal point for much of their careers
Now, with all of that said I believe that assuming the three stay healthy, the trades make the Celts viable again. If nothing else, they will be a fun team to watch in the regular season. Given the state of the Atlantic, they should easily be a playoff team. But, I do not believe that they will get anywhere near the Eastern Conference finals this season.
202SportsBlog 
http://www.firedannyaingenow.com
(not my site)
http://firedannyainge.wordpress.com
Lets say your opinion is fact. PLEASE explain to me the point of this trade?
The 3 guys over 30 you speak of will all make over 20 million a year and the luxery tax threshold is at 67. ? million. That means the luxery tax (dollar for dollar) will be paid unless we can fill a roster of 12-14 guys for
7 million and there is no way we can. Perkins makes 4 million already.
Pierce and Allan are at the age where they will lose their shooting ability.
God I wish Danny Ainge would go away. If we wanted to win in the East the last 4 years could have been avoided. He basically put Celtics fans through hell for a team no better then he gave away and that team actully had heart and played defense. The only time Allan showed up was when he wanted his contract extention and Pierce and Garnett have never played on a team that made the finals and both have only been to the WCF and ECF once.
I sure hope Garentt can play defense for 12 guys because no one else on this team plays defense.
Hi FDA,
Wish I could explain the logic behind this trade. My belief is that it is very short-sighted. As I saying they will win some games in the regular season and most likely make the playoffs, but that is about it. The danger, as you point out is that they will mortgage their future and what happens when one of these old men get hurt? They are screwed!
Danny is obviously focused on creating a “winner.” But, I believe that he is doing it the wrong way. Ultimately, I believe that this trade will do more long-term damage then it will do short-term good.
That is the problem. This team will win some games and since no one in the media got on Ainge when we were the second worst team in the NBA imagine the free ride he will get when this team wins 49 games (if)
I am all about Danny Ainge getting what he deserves and this hype is not it. He is a classless jerk that lies through his teeth every time he opens his mouth and it is only going to get worse from here on out.
The last 4 years were for nothing. Not that I ever thought Al “it’s okay that we lost(the playoffs) because I have plenty of time to win in the playoffs” Jefferson was going to lead us anywhere this trade makes no sense.
Rumor has Garnett deal at 25 million a year for 5 years. Allan already makes 21 plus million and Pierce’s deal will kick in and he will make the same. That is 67 million for 3 players.
http://firedannyainge.wordpress.com
http://www.firedannyaingenow.com
(noy my site)
According to the NBA.com website the 07-08 salary cap is currently set at $55.63M and the luxury cap threshold is set at $67.865M, so based on your calculations unless they can figure out some “creative” way to restructure some contracts they will either (a) have to find a way to pay 11 other players for about $865K or (b) they are perfectly happy paying the $1 tax for every $1 that they are over the threshold. I hope that they sell a lot of tickets this season!!!
They can fire the GM and save lots of money.
As far as I am concerned the luxery tax is the cap because the only thing owners care about is spending money.
Jordan won championships in his 30s. As did Hakeem. As does Duncan. It is pretty common for stars to play near peak level in their early 30s. I like this move, mainly because you become a contender. And what do you sacrifice? A blurry future that could or could not happen? It was the right move.
You are correct a number of stars have won championships after the age of thirty. But few teams, with the exception of the Bulls and maybe the Rockets, had 3 or more stars in their thirties. My issue is that all three of them have had to carry a heavy burden for most of their careers, so we will see if that wear and tear catches up with them.
If I were a Celtic fan I would be happy with this trade. I would be a little leery with the cost, but that is someone else’s money. My concern would be if this does not get the team a championship in say the next three years, have they mortgaged their future?