- The day in Bailey Island, ME where Jake showed me, with a tear in his eye, the day the Celtics traded Bryant Stith.
- While I was at the draft lottery, the Celtics expected to get the #1 pick (again) and secure either Oden or Durant, and instead ended up with the #5 pick, which deflated me at the time, but led to...
- At the draft, the Celtics draft Jeff Green & traded him on draft night for Ray Allen - starting the rumors of the eventual Garnett arrival in Boston.
- The day the ping pong balls bounced the wrong way and the C's thought they'd get #1 & #3 (Duncan & Billups) in the draft, and ended up with #3 and #6 (Billups & Mercer).
- Today, the day they traded Perk & others, in conjunction with the complete NBA mania, and the short 9 man Celtics squad v. a new look Denver team.
So that brings us to today, and as someone who clearly talks about and loves the NBA, I have had more than a few folks ask me what I think about today's deals.
I think today's flurry of trades are not ones you can assess totally, as I don't think they are done. The Celtics are going to acquire other players, and individual moves are just pieces of the puzzle. If the Celtics acquire Troy Murphy, and if they acquire another big man who can play some kind of Defense, even a Rasheed Wallace, and if Shaq is healthy and just resting, then I am not upset at all with the deal.
Jeff Green is a superstud, I believe that. Last year during the playoffs I wrote this about Jeff Green:
To be honest, I feel that way about him still. As Steve Kerr put it tonight, big men aren't the Celtics issue, Dwight Howard is almost literally a clown and the Magic aren't the problem. Yes, we may struggle against LA again, but I don't think I'm too terrified - and there is no planning on beating Duncan if the Spurs advance, you just have to hope it happens. Bottom line, I think that Jeff Green is the best player in the entire trade, and I am psyched to have him in green, extension or not.
Now we get to Kendrick Perkins, which is absolutely more complex and difficult to think through. Here is what I wrote about Perkins after his injury during the Finals last year. If you don't feel like reading the entire other post, the gist is this: I love Perkins, I was sad to see him get hurt, and I am furious that he was robbed of the ring.
But it gets more complex. The NBA is finance, plain and simple. The NBA is about squeezing the proper combinations of contracts & attitudes into a giant blender, and making the nectar that comes out taste delicious. It's a nearly impossible task.
I have said for a long time, that in a marriage, love isn't enough for it to to work. It's a baseline, you have to love each other, but you have to realize that you also have to have aligned philosophies on money, kids, things that you find fun, how to approach life, etc.
In the NBA, talent isn't nearly enough. Having the right Center for your team, even if he is perfect for you and perhaps better than the one you replace him with - that may not be enough to make it all work. And I think the fact that Perkins contract was up this year, and at this time last year I was already completely concerned with his financial situation, which, I cannot say enough, is more important than the player's talent and/or chemistry with the other players.
So Perkins is gone, and I think he is gone because his injury threw his contract situation into complete chaos. The real value for him is a moving target, and when given the choice to offer Jeff Green just under $6 Million next year (qualifying offer), and let his restricted free agent status tell us, is he worth it? I think we extend his contract, sign Kristic and let Big Baby walk. Those are my takes, but Ainge has never done what I thought he would do.
I will miss Perkins, I was not shy about loving his style, his game, his play, and his heart, even if he was a pain a bunch of the time.
Jeff Green is a superstud, I believe that. Last year during the playoffs I wrote this about Jeff Green:
But the Thunder's chemistry is in a lab coat, with beakers and bunson burners all over the place. At this point they are mad scientists. Chemistry doesn't just keep people happy, chemistry makes normal players turn into complete badasses. Their bench is so deep, and so badass, and I don't even think they are that physically gifted, or at least NBA-gifted. Jeff Green has turned into a supermachine, a defensive player with the confidence of a Hall of Famer. He is so quietly destroying the Lakers with all the intangibles that I am starting to think he is in his early 30's, and somehow had a Face/Off transplant with Pippen from the mid 90's.
To be honest, I feel that way about him still. As Steve Kerr put it tonight, big men aren't the Celtics issue, Dwight Howard is almost literally a clown and the Magic aren't the problem. Yes, we may struggle against LA again, but I don't think I'm too terrified - and there is no planning on beating Duncan if the Spurs advance, you just have to hope it happens. Bottom line, I think that Jeff Green is the best player in the entire trade, and I am psyched to have him in green, extension or not.
Now we get to Kendrick Perkins, which is absolutely more complex and difficult to think through. Here is what I wrote about Perkins after his injury during the Finals last year. If you don't feel like reading the entire other post, the gist is this: I love Perkins, I was sad to see him get hurt, and I am furious that he was robbed of the ring.
But it gets more complex. The NBA is finance, plain and simple. The NBA is about squeezing the proper combinations of contracts & attitudes into a giant blender, and making the nectar that comes out taste delicious. It's a nearly impossible task.
I have said for a long time, that in a marriage, love isn't enough for it to to work. It's a baseline, you have to love each other, but you have to realize that you also have to have aligned philosophies on money, kids, things that you find fun, how to approach life, etc.
In the NBA, talent isn't nearly enough. Having the right Center for your team, even if he is perfect for you and perhaps better than the one you replace him with - that may not be enough to make it all work. And I think the fact that Perkins contract was up this year, and at this time last year I was already completely concerned with his financial situation, which, I cannot say enough, is more important than the player's talent and/or chemistry with the other players.
So Perkins is gone, and I think he is gone because his injury threw his contract situation into complete chaos. The real value for him is a moving target, and when given the choice to offer Jeff Green just under $6 Million next year (qualifying offer), and let his restricted free agent status tell us, is he worth it? I think we extend his contract, sign Kristic and let Big Baby walk. Those are my takes, but Ainge has never done what I thought he would do.
I will miss Perkins, I was not shy about loving his style, his game, his play, and his heart, even if he was a pain a bunch of the time.
Perkins was not his former self, however. He was more than a liability this year offensively, and I didn't see light at the end of that tunnel, for this season at least. Perkins couldn't jump, couldn't go back up quickly, and his temper is a dangerous thing in the league of quick T's. Don't take this as sour grapes - I think he is fantastic, and I could see the C's winning it all with him as the anchor on defense.
I also can see them winning it when nobody is there on the Lakers to cover a second unit of West, Jeff Green, Troy Murphy, Glen Davis & Jermaine O'Neal. So at the end of the day, I think the emotions are real, and strong, but the reality is, I like this new look team.
2 comments:
The day Antoine was traded or GTFO!
The day Antoine was traded was devastating to me. I took that harder than Nomar going to the Cubs. I remember when the C's traded to get #8 back Grum excitedly calling me because he couldn't wait to hear my reaction.
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