Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Times They Are a-Changin': An analysis of Danny Ainge's stupidity.

     The NBA Trade Deadline has arrived and it's safe to say this has been a crazy couple of days. Everyone saw the deal trading Carmelo Anthony to any team coming a mile away, but the deals done by Mr. Danny Ainge today just kind of make you sit back and say "what?".

     Things got a little bit odd after the Nets failed to land Carmelo Anthony. Since they couldn't land him for their superstar they decided they would go with the next best thing and point guard Deron Williams as I addressed in my last article. Now, this makes sense to an extent because Williams did want out of Utah, but it was surely a "what?" moment when I saw this news pop up on my Twitter feed. It was a evenly matched trade and there was no clear winner, but there is no greater highlight in the trade talk than today's trade with the Celtics. Danny Ainge, you're an idiot good sir.

The "What the hell, Ainge?" trade. 
    Celtics trade Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson to Thunder for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic.

     Celtics trade rookie Luke Harangody and rookie Semih Erden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a second-round draft pick.

The Celtic's newly recovered Kendrick Perkins
was traded to the Thunder.
     Okay Danny Ainge, once again what the HELL are you doing? What are you doing to the Celts? I am baffled at these deals. I know the Cavaliers are horrible and that will be a high second round draft pick, but why give up two rookies for that? Erden is a seven footer, which aren't nearly as easy to come by as you would like to think, and Harangody who can actually play. So Mr. Ainge, unless you have some prospect hidden amongst the woodwork I find this to be an absolutely horrible trade.

     That's not even the worse of the worse though, Ainge then decided it would be a fantastic idea to trade Perkins, the final piece of that starting puzzle. The man worked incredibly hard to get back in shape only be dealt off as if he were a red-headed stepchild. KG is my defensive player of the year candidate, but the man can't do everything on his own. The Celtics need a big inside presence and I'm sorry undersized power forwards named Jeff Green and weak centers named Nenad Krstic aren't going to cut it.

     Green's may score more than Perkins but keep in mind these two things:
  • A) Jeff Green plays 37 minutes per game on a team that doesn't have three HOF's in their starting roster. Jeff Green WAS the third scoring option of the Thunder. Now he won't even start.
  • B) Jeff Green isn't going to impact this team the way Perkins did: offensively, defensively, and with chemistry.
    • Offense: Jeff Green couldn't back down yo' momma. He has atrocious post ability and elsewhere he doesn't have anywhere near the offensive ability to get a look at subbing in for Pierce at the Small Forward slot.
    • Defense: He sucks at defense, all I'm going to say. Actually no, I'll elaborate. He cannot clog the lane the way Perkins did and he never will. That's all I'm going to say.
    • Chemistry: This Celtics team is built around their brotherhood and losing such a big member of that brotherhood in Perkins is a bad, bad deal. When a kid who can't contribute offensively, defensively (on a defense first team), and shoots a lot more than he should comes in then he probably isn't going to be KG's new best buddy. 
     So, its obvious that Jeff Green fits no role on this team whatsoever, but what about Krstic? He's got to have something worthwhile right? Wrong. 

Will Green and Krstic help out the Celtics, probably not.
(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
......................................................................
     Krstic is the new "bulk" for the Celtics, but he's doesn't have near the frame (or near the toughness) that Perkins has. The three centers for this Celtics team are Krstic, Shaquille O'Neal, and Jermaine O'Neal. Let that sink in for a second. Danny Ainge, if you have any hope whatsoever of getting past Joakim Noah, Roy Hibbert, or worst of all Dwight Howard, then why-oh-why would you trade your second best post defender? You can't expect a bad, thin framed center to join your brotherhood of a team and become the next Olajuwon. It's just not going to happen. God help you if you happen to make the finals and face the Lakers (if they make the finals) because I can tell you what Odom, Bynum, and Gasol are going to give you one helluva time. 

The Celtics are losing Nate Robinson's bench play
and chemistry for nothing.
     So, that's the end of this rant, right? Again, wrong. Why was Nate Robinson shipped off? This makes just as little sense as dealing out Perkins. Nate, with his "playful" attitiude was part of that brotherhood the Celtics have built. Why ruin that Ainge? Not only that but the guy was part of the deep second unit the Celtics had, one of the reasons they are top in the East. He chipped in a couple of buckets per night, defended his heart out after learning the ways of being a Celtic, and was part of the "family". I understand Delonte West is getting back to full strength, but the Celtics don't have a lot of depth at guard and getting rid of a guard without one in return hurts. Not to mention that the Celtics gained a more expensive contract in Krstic, so they technically lost money.



    The Celtics are only percentage points above the Heat (whom they have beaten every time this year), and remain the top team in the Eastern Conference. They lost two key players, two role players, and gained two players that did not fit this team whatsoever and a second-round draft pick. Woo. So go ahead Celtics fans, shake your head in disapproval, facepalm, or do whatever it is you need to do to show the distaste you have for this trade. Danny Ainge, you my friend may have orchestrated one of the greatest trades of all time, but at this moment in time you have failed horribly.

     Do you agree with everything I said? Or do you call balderdash on my statements? Leave your opnions in the comment box below and don't forget to subscribe or follow me on twitter.com/travisbrockett

     Thank you very much for reading!

16 comments:

  1. Great post man a lot of good points, i'll check this out again tmrw.

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  2. ill have to keep an eye on you...

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  3. im shocked at the nate trade, i'd take him back here in nyc in a heart beat.

    def subed!

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  4. Thanks for the info. I'm looking forward to hear your opinion about SA Spurs, more specifically Manu Ginobilli. (coz I love how he plays and I'm Argentinian like him :P)

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  5. Cover the Hawks and i will be happy

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  6. nice cover, please do more. :)

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  7. Wonderful, I will just come here when I need to catch up on NBA news. Which I have not done for a while! Thanks!

    http://phi-and-sci.blogspot.com/

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  8. Yea, Delonte West will definitely have an impact when he's at full strength.

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  9. The age of franchise players is coming to an end. It's been apparent in other sporting leagues for a few years now and it's starting to creep in to the NBA as well. There are just too many good players now to have entire teams rally around one for their entire career.

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  10. Just trust Doc Rivers and his abilities. His Celtics are gonna win the championship for sure. Almost 3:1 w/l ratio.

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  11. Thank you all for the positive feedback and thank you all who have followed.

    @Paul Johannsen, check out today's article! It has a tid-bit about the Spurs and Manu: http://thetechfoul.blogspot.com/2011/03/more-change-all-around-league.html

    @guyixia, couldn't agree more after that trade they are going to need his presense coming off the bench. Losing Perkins and Robinson though, that's tough. Not even Delonte can completely fix that no matter how well he plays.

    @Terce, interesting post! I mentioned you in today's article saying how your comment gave me the idea for tomorrow's article. Great post.

    @Football Maniac, we will see but at this point I can't entirely agree with that. Fantastic team no doubt and playoff tested for sure, but when it comes down to it they lack the true size to out duel teams like Chicago or Orlando.

    Thank you all again for reading! www.thetechfoul.blogspot.com

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