Ainge willing to break up the big 3 for younger talent

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

http://espn.go.com/boston/nba/story/_/id/7478868/report-danny-ainge-willing-break-boston-celtics-big-three

 

Danny Ainge does not want to see another decline in the franchise like the one that happened after the Boston Celtics' original Big Three dried up, and he's willing to break up his current star trio to ensure that.

 

Why anyone would have a problem with that approach is a mystery to him.

 

The Celtics have limped to a 5-8 start behind 34-year-old Paul Pierce, 35-year-old Kevin Garnett and 36-year-old Ray Allen. Ainge, the Celtics' president of basketball operations, told The Boston Globe that he would consider a trade if it would help the team get younger and be poised to be competitive in the next era.

 

Ainge saw the Celtics pass up deals when Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish were aging, and the result was a steady deterioration that saw Boston not make the playoffs or advance beyond the first round from the 1992-93 to 2000-01 seasons.

 

"First of all, it's a different era," Ainge told The Globe. "I sat with Red (Auerbach) during a Christmas party (in the 1990s). Red was talking to Larry, Kevin, and myself and there was a lot of trade discussion at the time, and Red actually shared some of the trade discussions. And I told Red, what are you doing? Why are you waiting?

 

"He had a chance to trade Larry (to Indiana) for Chuck Person and Herb Williams and (Steve) Stipanovich and he had a chance to trade Kevin (to Dallas) for Detlef Schrempf and Sam Perkins. I was like, 'Are you kidding?' I mean, I feel that way now. If I were presented with those kind of deals for our aging veterans, it's a done deal to continue the success."

 

Do it. This incarnation of the Celtics is done. I have no interest in watching this team die a slow, age-related death while they could be stocking up for the next era. I actually applaud Danny for being this up front about it.

 

The tricky part will be finding a team that would want one of these guys, can provide enough of a return package to make it worthwhile for the Celtics, and make it work legally with the salary cap.

 

Ray would most likely just be sold as a big expiring to some team who needs salary relief. Depending on the awfulness of the contract we take back (which wouldn't really matter given that we won't be contending and probably not big players for any big FAs), we might be able to bleed the other team for something useful. Dallas is an interesting possibility, as are the Clippers. Both want to go after Dwight Howard in free agency (in Dallas' case they want Dwight AND Deron Williams) but both need to set aside more cap room for this summer to do it. Obviously neither of those can happen if Dwight is traded somewhere he wants to stay long term.

 

I think KG and Chicago is a perfect match. The Bulls are coached by Tom Thibodeau and have the kind of nasty, defensive outlook that KG fits beautifully with. KG puts them right there with Miami. He can and would put up similar numbers in Chicago as he does here (14 and 8 ish on a good shooting percentage), and he'd do it while being very good on defense (compared to Boozer, who's a bum on that end), and they aren't on lockdown with his contract for 3 more years. Boston would have to take back Boozer, which is kind of a scary proposition. I'd prefer to just amnesty him but I don't know if I see Wyc and co. paying for someone not to play. We'd likely take either Korver or Brewer and send Daniels to the Bulls. I don't think the Charlotte pick and a future first rounder from them is unreasonable for all that. Make the call after Dwight is moved to somewhere other than Chicago or the Magic decide to pull him from the market.

 

I don't know who would want Pierce, to be honest. $15 million+ for two more seasons after this for a 34 year old Pierce? I wouldn't touch that if I was another GM. Still, call Orlando and NY just to be safe.

[RedSoxFan84]

I'm a Bulls fan and also a Garnett fan, and I would love to have him on my team, although it would have been nicer to have him 10 years ago. However, I just don't see him coming to Chicago. He and Joakim Noah don't get along at all, and the Celtics would have to take back Carlos Boozer as you said, which I don't think they would want to do. Regarding the idea of splitting up the Big Three though, I think it would hurt Celtics fans at the time, but it would be better for the team long-term. Rebuild the team around a guy like Rondo, like the Bulls have done with Rose. Now obviously Rondo isn't on the same level as Rose, but he's still a very nice piece to have to build a team around.

[Flynnatic10]

Rondo is not a guy you want to build around..big 3 covers all of his weaknesses.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

I'm a Bulls fan and also a Garnett fan' date=' and I would love to have him on my team, although it would have been nicer to have him 10 years ago. However, I just don't see him coming to Chicago. [b']He and Joakim Noah don't get along at all[/b]

 

That's true, I didn't think of that. Although if it came to it I doubt there would be any real animosity if they became teammates.

 

and the Celtics would have to take back Carlos Boozer as you said, which I don't think they would want to do.

 

We have our amnesty still, so it wouldn't tie up our cap situation. Celtics ownership is cheap as hell, but I think they're smart enough, basketball-wise, to bite the bullet on someone like Boozer if it improves our future outlook.

 

Rondo is not a guy you want to build around..big 3 covers all of his weaknesses.

 

The big 3 won't be around after this season. I don't like the idea of building around Rondo either, but unless some other team offers us something ridiculous, he's here.

[RedSoxFan84]

Rondo is not a guy you want to build around..big 3 covers all of his weaknesses.

 

You bring up an interesting point there. There has long been debates on other forums about Rondo. Some feel that he is a really good player who would be even better if he had a bigger role on the team and wasn't the 4th wheel, whereas others argue the opposite point, that the only reason he looks as good as he does is BECAUSE he's the 4th wheel and gets overlooked by other teams due to his more heralded teammates. Personally, I'm not really sure which way to go. I think, in all honesty, that both arguments are probably true in their own ways. Playing as the 4th banana behind three potential future Hall of Famers must certainly give Rondo some more freedom. However, when you consider how good he is now in the 4th player role, it really does beg the question of how much better could he be given a bigger role?

 

As was just said, the Big Three probably wont be around next season (at least not all three of them), so we will get a chance to see then just how good Rondo can be when he gets pushed into a bigger role on this team. Like I said in my earlier post, he's not on the same level as Derrick Rose in that he would be a superstar even with no decent teammates, but outside of Rose, Chris Paul, Deron Williams and maybe Westbrook, I really can't think of any other PG's off the top of my head who I would rather have running my team.