| Garnett, Allen, Pierce, And... Authored by Randolph Charlotin - August 1, 2007 - 1:53 pm
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So you overpaid for it. Not by much, but that’s how badly you wanted it. How much didn’t matter. The point was it was yours. You had what was your dream car at the time.
And now that you had it, the fun really starts. Time to accessorize and personalize your investment. Finding exactly the right pieces will be hard, but it will be rewarding once you get what you’re looking for.
That’s where Danny Ainge is right now. He finally got Kevin Garnett. It took months of negotiations, a draft night trade to make the Boston Celtics’ situation more appealing to KG, and likely a fair amount of pitching the idea to Garnett that a move to Boston would be his best professional move.
But adding Garnett doesn’t complete the puzzle. There’s still a few accessories needed to finish the grand plan of making the Celtics a championship contending team.
Knowing the trade was consummated is not the same as watching the press conference with Paul Pierce, Garnett, and Ray Allen standing side-by-side-by-side. Taking a good look at the trio and knowing their accomplishments makes one realize just what the Celtics now have.
They make one of the best trios in the league. No top three on any team has the resume Pierce, Garnett, and Allen have combined. A team would be lucky if their roster had the 22 all-star appearances between Paul, Kevin, and Ray. Each led their teams to a Conference Finals appearance. And while all are go-to players, all have developed their games to share the ball. Most importantly, they all have the killer instinct to take the last shot.
Put them all together and opponents will have to pick their poison. Any one can take a defender off the dribble. A double-team likely means one of the other two is open. It almost doesn’t matter who starts with them when all three are on the floor.
But when one or two of them needs a rest, that could be a problem. Like your first car, Ainge paid a very steep price for Garnett. Excluding center Theo Ratliff and the two first round draft picks, Ainge exchanged the players with the most potential to develop:
Al Jefferson could become a star in the league and a double-double machine.
Gerald Green is entering his third year and so far has teased fans with is potential. If he can put it all together Green too can become a star.
Gomes is a versatile role player and maybe he could become more. Gomes can play either forward position.
Sebastian Telfair, whose career has been a disappointment thus far and had altercations with the law last year, sounds rededicated. The new commitment, change of scenery, and change in coaching could be what Bassy needs to finally blossom.
That leaves head coach Doc Rivers with a bench of forwards Brian Scalabrine and Leon Powe, guard Tony Allen, and three rookies (forwards Glen Davis and Brendan Wallace, guard Gabe Pruitt). With Tony coming off of a major knee injury, the only injury-free player with a proven track record is Scalabrine. If he’s your sixth man, your team is in trouble.
Ainge knows that. During the introductory press conference he said his work isn’t done and that they still need to add players to fill out the roster. Right now there isn’t a legitimate back-up at center on the roster. And there isn’t a point guard to relieve Rajon Rondo. Figure in the lack of height off the bench and a full sized power forward could be on the shopping list as well.
The good news is Ainge doesn’t have to sell the Celtics to free agents. Clearly Boston is the most intriguing team in the East now. Who would pass up the opportunity to play with Garnett, Allen, and Pierce and compete for a championship? Heck, call them the G.A.P. Band. Fill in with the right background guys and they will form one funky group.
After the draft night trade that brought in Allen, a lot of people thought Ainge wasn’t done. They were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Garnett is that other shoe. Now it is up to Ainge to get the laces.
Randolph Charlotin can be contacted at lordrc@netzero.net |
