It’s funny what a Kevin Garnett trade can do for a franchise. Of course, the Big Ticket is a name most people who follow the NBA are very familiar with. After toiling for the Minnesota Timberwolves for the first 12 years of his career, Garnett is now a Celtic in a move that sent some much-needed positive vibes for the NBA as a whole (Tim Donaghy anyone?) and more specifically, for the Eastern Conference of the NBA… and of course the Boston Celtics.
If you are wondering how Celtic fans feel about The Garnett Trade, look no further than the title of the CelticsBlog article discussing this very subject: Giddy. What else needs to be said? Of course, ESPN’s Bill Simmons shares the same sentiments, which is good: we won’t have to hear him bitching about how bad the Celts are, at least for a couple of seasons… I imagine the overall fan reaction from the Celtic nation was something like this (sung to the tune of Tenacious D’s “Rock Your Socks“):
Give it up for KG, Give it up for Ray
Give it up for KG, Give it up for Paul
Give it up for KG, Give it up for Ainge…
But does this move, coupled with the Draft Day Ray Allen trade, give the Celts enough firepower for a title run? Well, it depends on who you ask.
When the deal FINALLY broke (remember, this on-again-off-again affair began before the 07 Draft), the Internet sports community exploded. Columnists and bloggers alike gave their altered analysis of the almost-respectable Eastern Conference, one that now includes Kevin Garnett. To avoid repetition, I’ll spare you my in-depth analysis (at least until the season starts). For a comprehensive rundown of these reactions, check out ESPN’s TrueHoop blog/website thing they have going on over there:
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-27-0/Handicapping-the-New-East.html (sorry for the copy and paste job but TrueHoop doesn’t link out to their sources and neither will I to them)
I will, however, offer some of my perspective: Does the trade make the Celtics an automatic contender? Well, considering how average the Eastern Conference is, it does — at least for the Eastern Conference title. However, the Celts aren’t the only team that got better. The Knicks (yes, those same Knicks from two years ago) added Zach Randolph, giving them a front-court tandem of Eddy Curry and Randolph. If these two can co-exist with each other (and Starbury), the Knicks should be much improved as well.
The same can be said for the Orlando Magic who signed probably the most prized free agent of this particular off-season in Rashard Lewis, giving the incredibly explosive Dwight Howard even more talent to work with. Of course, let’s not forget about the teams like Miami, Chicago, Detroit, Washington and Cleveland, either. While I’m not sure these teams are necessarily “better” than the Celtics, they do have more experience playing together and they have a post-season pedigree, something Boston hasn’t had since Larry Legend roamed “The Gahden”.
It is wise to consider what Boston had to give up getting KG: pretty much their entire bench. As it stands, there are about five active players for the Celts, just enough to field a team… but what about the bench? It’s also wise to wait until the free agent season is over until we give this trade an overall grade, but the addition of KG, coupled with Allen and Paul Pierce, give the Celts a threesome most Eastern teams can’t match.
However, there is one issue I’m having with the criticism: most pundits don’t think this version of the Celts will be that defensive minded by saying KG is the only player out of their starting 5 that actually plays defense. Excuse me (and this is where my UK fanhood rears its head) but haven’t you guys ever heard of Rajon Rondo? He’s probably the second most athletically talented player in the starting 5 and has shown exceptional ability when it comes to stealing the ball from opposing players. However, while at UK, he did this at the expense of his on-the-ball defense.
If this little flaw is corrected, Rondo could easily become a defensive stalwart reminiscent of Jordan and Pippen (you have to keep in mind just how long and athletic he really is).
/end Rondo aside
All-in-all, the Garnett trade was good for all parties involved, even the Timberwolves.
Chris Richardson is the web communication specialist for Ticket Solutions. At Ticket Solutions, we have tickets for games to every NBA game you can think of, including the Finals and the All-Star weekend. Check out our NBA ticket inventory. Watch for the Ticket Solutions sports blog launching soon.
