Well, one of my favorite players in NBA history was officially traded today. Kevin Garnett is going to the Boston Celtics to join Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. The Timberwolves received Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff and two first round draft picks. Garnett immediately makes the Celtics one of the top teams in the East and easily the most star studded. To me this deal had to be done. The Ray Allen for the number 5 pick, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West made no sense on draft day. Sure, that made the Celtics better and a potential playoff team, but it didn't make them Eastern Conference contenders. This deal could make them the favorites regardless of what they do the rest of the off-season.
A lot of people talk about the Celtics won't win the East because of their weak supporting cast, so I'm going to break down the roster as it is right now.
At center, they have no true centers (but how many teams in the NBA can say they have an effective center?). Kendrick Perkins will likely be the starter at center next season. Rookie Glen "Big Baby" Davis will likely see time behind Perkins playing alongside Garnett. Davis is very athletic for a 6'9", 280 pound guy but experts question how good he can be in the NBA, especially in his rookie season. Garnett should help both young players develop and if the Celtics are lucky will be able to hold down the 5 spot for this season. Second year big Leon Powe could see time here too.
Potential free agent signing: P.J. Brown. Not a true center either, but a tough player who like Garnett, Allen and Pierce is championship hungry and could come to Boston for cheap.
Power forward is obviously locked down by Garnett. Garnett will get a lot of minutes here. Davis and Powe could see time here as well.
The small forward position will be held by Paul Pierce. Like the PF position, the small forward position is pretty well in place with Pierce. Pierce isn't the best defender in the world and the C's could look to pick up a free agent like Ime Udoka or Bean personal favorite Matt Barnes. Undrafted rookie Brandon Wallace now more likely to make the team due to four roster spots opening up could get some playing time early on in his career. That would probably be a scary thing for C's fans seeing as Wallace didn't exactly have a great summer league (averaging 4.2 PPG in 22.4 MPG during his 5-game summer league).
Potential free agent signings: Ime Udoka, Matt Barnes
Shooting guard looks pretty well locked down with Ray Allen and Tony Allen. Ray Allen, as probably known by most people, is a 3-point specialist and has one of, if not the best jumpshot in the league. Playing with Pierce and Garnett should help him immensely find open jumpers. Like Pierce, Ray Allen isn't a great defender, but where he lacks Tony Allen picks up. Tony Allen should help the other Allen play tough defense against tough shooting guards. Tony Allen is a little undersized at 6'4", but should be fine. The big worry facing Tony Allen how he will fare coming off a torn ACL. I don't see the C's making a move to add another shooting guard because I think they're very confident in Tony Allen.
Point guard is a tough position for the C's. Their starter for the season will be second year man Rajon Rondo. Rondo is known for his quickness and defense. He's not much of a playmaker at this point in his career, but three of the guys on his team can make plays and make Rondo look better then he is. This is a position where Danny Ainge needs to go out and get someone to play behind Rondo. The obvious choice is Brevin Knight (who I want the Cavaliers to sign very badly), who can makes plays and will take a pay cut to play for a team like the C's that can win it all. Knight can also teach a thing or two about the fine art of playing the point guard position to Rondo. At this moment, the C's backup PG would be rookie out of USC, Gabe Pruitt. Pruitt is a big PG (6'4") and extremely quick. The knock on him is that he's not much of a pass first point guard. If Pruitt sees time early on in his career, he could learn very quickly how to distribute with the C's big three.
Potential free agent signings: Brevin Knight, Earl Boykins
You can tell that the Celtics roster is thin and needs a veteran or two this season to make them a legit contender to win it all. If they do this, I don't really see a team in the East who will take the 1-seed a way from them. The Bulls and Pistons are deep, but the Bulls may still be a year or two away from contending and still lack that inside presence they most desperately need on the offensive end. The Pistons look like a team slightly on the decline (from championship caliber team to 2nd-3rd best team in the East with no real shot of beating the powers of the West), but the rookie acquistions of Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo could pay immediate impacts. Then there's always my favorite team, the Cleveland Cavaliers who refuse to make roster moves. Right now, the Cavs will return the same exact team (but there are words on the street of a Drew Gooden for nothing deal, Goooo Cavs!). Also, you can never count out the Miami Heat. The season for the Heat will fall on the shoulders of Dwyane Wade's surgery. If he comes back fine, the Heat will easily be a top 5 team in the East (with the four aforementioned teams).
With that said, the Cubs just beat the Phillies 7-3 and sit .5 games behind the Brewers who are tied with the Mets 2-2 in the 9th inning in Milwaukee. Let's Go Mets! Can the Cubs keep losing championship losing streak alive (incase you don't know, I've lost four different championship games this year. Ohio State football and basketball, the Bears and the Cavs. I've never been so certain the Cubs would make the World Series, but winning it is another thing).
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