The Celtics draft day deal for former Sonic Ray Allen put the team on the doorstep of the playoffs in the weak Eastern Conference.
The July 31 deal for Kevin Garnett, which netted the Minnesota Timberwolves five players and two draft picks, puts the team firmly into the playoffs, but not as high as some people would like you to believe.
Yes, TD Banknorth Garden will be sold out for the next fine years -- Garnett signed a three-year extension on top of the two years left on his deal that will keep him in Beantown through the 2011-12 season.
Yes, the Celtics will be relevant for at least three of those five campaigns.
And, yes, the most storied franchise in the League, which hasn't raised a banner since "The Simpsons" was just a skit on "The Tracey Ullman Show," will be on opposing team's radars each time they play.
What they won't be, though, is title contenders.
The 31-year-old Garnett, 32-year-old Allen and Paul Pierce, 29, do make for an imposing trio. But what else is there after those three?
The Celtics acquired Garnett, a 10-time All-Star and the NBA MVP in 2004, from Minnesota in exchange for Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, a 2009 first-round draft pick and a return of Minnesota's conditional first-round pick previously obtained in the Ricky Davis-Wally Sczerbiak swap.
The Timberwolves also receive cash considerations in the deal. The 2009 pick Boston is sending to Minnesota is top-three protected.
Let's see: five players and two draft picks, which will admittedly be in the 16-21 range, for one guy. That's the largest deal for one player in League history.
Here's Boston's depth chart after the trade:
PG: Rajon Rondo, Allan Ray
SG: Ray Allen, Tony Allen
SF: Paul Pierce
PF: Kevin Garnett, Brian Scalabrine, Leon Powe
C: Kendrick Perkins, Michael Olowokandi
No depth. The Big Three makes the squad more than just a blip on the NBA radar, but nothing more.
Of the five players traded away, one averaged 33 minutes a night (Jefferson), and Gomes put in 31 minutes a game. Green and Telfair got more than 20 minutes of burn each night, and Ratliff played for than 20 minutes in the two games he suited up for. Delonte West and Sczerbiak, who were sent to Seattle in the Allen deal, averaged 30 minutes a game between them.
You'd think this would help the squad, what with head coach Doc Rivers' inability to magane playing time for a group, but now they have another problem.
Their top two point guards are gone. Danny Ainge traded away a promising front court player in Jefferson. And Boston will have to rely on Perkins and OlowoBusti to provide something in the post.
Unless Boston brass has some more deals up their sleeves -- maybe bringing in Brevin Knight to play the role he played in Charlotte behind Ray Felton until Rondo can be let loose, and/or bringing in Chris Webber, Anderson Varejao or Earl Boykins -- this is just a deal to make headlines.
Even though they were knocked out of the first round of the '07 playoffs, Toronto is still the class of the Atlantic Division. Bosh is a young Garnett, the Raptors have depth in the post and two capable quarterbacks in T.J. Ford and Jose Calderon.
The Pistons and Bulls are deeper and light years ahead of Boston on defense.
Oh, and there are those two guys who aren't going anywhere for a while: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.
That's five teams I put ahead of Boston in the East. The other two East playoff teams are Milwaukee and Washington, and that all hinges on health.
So that puts Boston, after all its wheeling and dealing, sixth in the Eastern Conference.
I know big moves are the ones that garner the print and air time, but subtle tweaks bring home trophies.
Before I get to the final ten teams in my preview and my award, division and playoff winners, here's some quick hits, things I'm looking forward to and questions about the upcoming NBA season.
-The Bulls will be perimeter oriented, similar to how Jersey was when they got to the finals, minus K-Mart. I wanna see how far they can get with no post presence. -The slide of the Pacers. Best record in 03-04, 46 wins in 04-05, .500 last season, Yes, I know key guys were injured last year, but this team needs to be blown up because their door closed the night of the brawl. Don't forget, they beat the Pistons by 15 that night, were 7-2 and Artest was averaging something like 24, 8, 6, and 2 steals -How tough and exciting the Pacific division will be this season -Can T-Mac and Yao stay healthy and can Bonzi be content coming off the bench -When will the Isiah suicide watch start? -When will Doc Rivers be fired? -How will Miami's seed in the playoffs be affected with Shaq playing 50-55 games during the regular season? -Will Rasheed stop shooting eight threes a game? -How much zone will the Pistons play since they don't have a help defender anymore? -Can Dallas rebound after losing a 2-0 lead in the finals?-Will D-Wade be satisfied with one ring
-Will we see Kobe from games 1-5 of the Phoenix series, or Kobe from games six and seven?
-If Miami goes back to back, does Shaq call it a career?
-How the shift from Shaq/Kobe will switch to Wade/Kobe
-How quickly Chris Paul will ascend to best point guard in the L status
Yesterday I listed the five teams I think are the worst in the NBA. Today, I'll list five teams who may be just a little better. I've been wrong before. But not that often.
25. Philadelphia 76ers: The only reason I don't have Philly lower is solely out of respect for Allen Iverson. I know he doesn't want to leave the City of Brotherly Love, but, if he wants to contend for a title, he has to. Chris Webber was a bad match, since both he and Iverson like to operate with the ball. GM Billy King gave millions of dollars to guys who can't play defense and are specialists at one thing (Kyle Korver and Sam Dalembert). And Iverson and Webber are reluctant to take lesser shots in order to strengthen the development of third-year swingman Andre Igoudala.
24. Toronto Raptors: GM Bryan Colangelo, of Phoenix Suns fame, is attempting to make the Raps Phoenix waaay North. He drafted a big man who can run the floor and hit a mid-range jumper in Andrea Bargnani out of Italy. He traded an athletic big man -- Charlie Villanueva -- for a speedy point guard -- T.J. Ford. The trade was made because Villanueva plays the same position as All-Star Chris Bosh. Toronto has athleticism on the wings with Morris Peterson, Fred Jones and second-year player Joey Graham, too. But I can't put too much stock into a team that'll start (insert Stephen A. Smith voice here) Ra-sho Nes-ter-o-vic at center to start the season.
23. Charlotte Bobcats: After the Washington debacle, I'm a little leery of any team that has Michael Jordan making personnel decisions. But I like the direction the Bobcats are taking. Sure, they're 1-5 so far in this preseason, but the Mavericks haven't fared much better and they're a title contender. Charlotte finished last season on a four-game winning streak. Bob Johnson's crew drafted super scorer Adam Morrison out of Gonzaga to add some scoring punch and take some of the load off of the blossoming Gerald Wallace. Charlotte has frontcourt depth with Primoz Brezec, Sean May, Emeka Okafor and veteran ####er Othella Harrington. They have solid point guards in Ray Felton and Brevin Knight. I don't see a playoff berth, but I see a slight improvement on their 26-56 record from last season.
22. Memphis Grizzlies: Pau Gasol's foot injury this summer indirectly spelled the end of Memphis' season. There won't be a fourth straight playoff berth for Mike Fratello's crew. I say GM Jerry West should trade veteran backcourt tandem Damon Stoudamire and Eddie Jones to, say, Minnesota for Rashad McCants or Bracey Wright and a draft pick, if the T'Wolves have any picks after the Joe Smith fiasco, and let the young guys learn on the fly this year. Start Villanova rookie Kyle Lowry at point. Slide Mike Miller to the two-guard spot. Let Rudy #### run wild on the wing and let Hakim Warrick and Stromile Swift put their length on display. This is a lost season for a team that had its best regular season last year (49-33). Fratello's job should not be in jeopardy this season.
21. Minnesota Timberwolves: I feel for Kevin Garnett more than I do for Iverson. KG is one of the select few who go hard night in and night out. But for what? The 06-07 year will be the third consecutive season that Garnett misses the playoffs. That just doesn't seem right. Neither do some of the moves Kevin McHale made during the offseason. Mike James was a gunner for a bad Raptors team last season. So McHale signed him to start at point guard. Borderline psycho Ricky Davis is the starting shooting guard, and we all know he likes to chuck it. Mark Blount starts at center. MARK BLOUNT STARTS AT CENTER!. Either Garnett restructures his deal and initiates a trade to the Lakers, or, after a bad loss in mid-January, cameras will catch him as Garnett leaves the lockerroom with head coach Dwayne Casey's head dangling from his mouth.
My name is Jason Carmel Davis, and I am a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. Yes, we do go to class in East Lansing, not just to bars and the liquor store.
I'm almost positive I had an SI with me in the womb, checking out Ralph Wiley. He's the main reason I ever decided to pursue a career in sportswriting .
I even remember the first highlight I ever saw on SportsCenter. I don't remember who was reading it, but it was Michael Jordan's 63-point game against the Celtics in the Garden in the 86 Playoffs. I've been hooked ever since.
