Interesting NBA Trade (Celtics-T'Wolves)

[SirFozzie]

I think the Celts come out top, but it's not a completely onesided trade)

BOSTON -- The Boston Celtics acquired Wally Szczerbiak and Michael Olowokandi from the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night in a multiplayer deal that sent Ricky Davis and three other players to Minnesota.

Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks, Justin Reed and two conditional second-round draft picks are going to the slumping Timberwolves. The Celtics also get Dwayne Jones and a future first-round draft pick, Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said.

"We are ecstatic to acquire a player of Wally Szczerbiak's quality to complement Paul Pierce and our young talent base," Celtics director of basketball operations Danny Ainge said in a statement.

"In Wally, we are receiving an All-Star player who is playoff tested and who has been a winner at all levels. We wish Ricky, Mark, Marcus, and Justin continued success in Minnesota."

The Boston Herald and TNT first reported the trade Thursday night.

Davis was the Celtics' second leading scorer at 19.7 behind Paul Pierce, while Szczerbiak is averaging 20.1 points for the Timberwolves.

[sovereignstar]

wow

[Craptacular]

Charles Barkley's comments on TNT were awesome. He basically laughed and said "I don't know the numbers, but there has to be some salary dumping going on. This trade does not improve either team. Period."

[sovereignstar]

I can't really judge the trade too much as I don't know much about the NBA besides the Wolves. But have fun with Kandi and the H.S.-class defender.

[SirFozzie]

all the celtics have multiple years left on their contract.. IIRC

[DaddyTorgo]

enjou mark blount. jeezus am i glad to get rid of that guy. that was the worst contract the C's have taken on since like...either Vin Baker or Raef "SF in a C's body" LaFrentz.

[stevew]

Blount for Kandi is a straight up salary dump. The main part of the trade is Davis for Wally, I'd probably do that, even though Wally's deal is pretty huge. Wally looks like a Celtic, I guess.

[Sublime 2]

I don't mind this trade one bit. I hate losing Ricky but I do like Wally's shooting far better. Wally's D is less than Ricky's when Ricky actually tries to defend. Banks and Reed are no losses (no matter what my Banks loving sister says). Blount for Kandiman is just that two, guys who have not lived up to their contracts and need a new destination. I think Kandi can be a good #2 Center behind Perkins and Wally will start at the 2-3 with Pierce. This deal frees up room for the young Celtics to get some playing time and look toward the future without giving up an 8 seed in the East....possibly.

[Groundhog]

I really think the Timberwolves got the better half of this trade. Blount can at least put the ball in the hoop, as opposed to Kandi man who can't do anything. I'd slightly prefer to have Ricky D on my team than Wally, but Banks and Reed are in my opinion two players who will produce if given time on the Timberwolves roster. If I were a Timberwolves fan I'd be ecstatic with this trade.

[stevew]

I wonder if the next move is to try to package Pierce and LaFrentz together, to continue to retool. Obviously Pierce is their best player, but its not exactly getting them anywhere. Maybe packaging the two will bring back some sort of impact player, and shave off some more salary for next season.

[Groundhog]

I wonder if the next move is to try to package Pierce and LaFrentz together, to continue to retool. Obviously Pierce is their best player, but its not exactly getting them anywhere. Maybe packaging the two will bring back some sort of impact player, and shave off some more salary for next season.

I disagree. The Celtics are rediculously young. What they need to do is keep Paul, develop their young big men and in the offseason add non-disruptive leader type FAs for role player work.

[Sublime 2]

I disagree. The Celtics are rediculously young. What they need to do is keep Paul, develop their young big men and in the offseason add non-disruptive leader type FAs for role player work.

Definetly agree with this. You can't deal Pierce right now. His surrounding guys are so young but in a couple years these guys are gonna be 25-27 and Pierce will be the big player. Al Jefferson, Delonte West, and even Kendrick Perkins will be solid starters in a year or two and Pierce will have a much better team than the one that made the ECF's the 2 years that Antoine "The C's Heart" Walker was on.

Yes, I am a big Toine fan as a leader not so much as a player.

[JPhillips]

If they trade Pierce they won't be in the playoffs for the next five years. He's the lone real All-Star on that team and even though I think the kids will improve it will be years before any of them are All-Star talent. A playoff team needs an All-Star and a championship team needs at least two.

The trade is good in that it frees some space and gives more minutes to the future. I hope they can ditch LaFrentz and Szerbiak in a package for one player. That would open up more time for the future of the franchise to play.

[MikeVick7]

enjou mark blount. jeezus am i glad to get rid of that guy. that was the worst contract the C's have taken on since like...either Vin Baker or Raef "SF in a C's body" LaFrentz.
And on the flipside of that...enjoy the Kandi Man! :) I'm sure you'll love his brand of lackluster play.

[rkmsuf]

Kandi is in the last year of his deal. I can see the C's just cutting him. It was good for Boston to get out from Blounts remaining money plus he sucks.

Wally has a big chunk of change due him but I'd rather pay him than the combination of Davis and Blount. Davis could be the laziest defender on the planet. Guy never tries at that end except on rare occasions.

Good deal for Boston. They gave up nothing and got rid of a couple asshats.

[QuikSand]

We ought to make a link to this thread every time someone who occasionally gets frustrated when an aging star football player gets cut starts to complain that NFL salaries ought to be guaranteed like basketball and baseball.

[larrymcg421]

This is why I like this trade.

Blount - 4.2 Rebounds in 27.8 Minutes
Olowokandi - 5.6 Rebounds in 23.5 Minutes

The Celtics don't have offensive problems. They can do without Blount's 12 pts. And they can certainly do without his contract. Even if Kandi doesn't work out, they've freed up room next year to find a solid big man. Great trade for the Celtics, but I will miss Ricky.

[rkmsuf]

This is why I like this trade.

Blount - 4.2 Rebounds in 27.8 Minutes
Olowokandi - 5.6 Rebounds in 23.5 Minutes

The Celtics don't have offensive problems. They can do without Blount's 12 pts. And they can certainly do without his contract. Even if Kandi doesn't work out, they've freed up room next year to find a solid big man. Great trade for the Celtics, but I will miss Ricky.

The whole goal now is to play Jefferson and Perkins big minutes. Those are your solid big men in the grand scheme of things. I would suspect Kandi plays sparingly or at all.

[larrymcg421]

The whole goal now is to play Jefferson and Perkins big minutes. Those are your solid big men in the grand scheme of things. I would suspect Kandi plays sparingly or at all.

Yeah, but the point is Kandi will be a better backup than Blount. I'm not really sold on Perkins yet, but I like Jefferson. I still think they should go shopping for a big man in the offseason.

[rkmsuf]

Yeah, but the point is Kandi will be a better backup than Blount. I'm not really sold on Perkins yet, but I like Jefferson. I still think they should go shopping for a big man in the offseason.

I doubt that Kandi is a better backup. That guy stinks. He's better because his deal is up.

They won't have near enough money to get the kind of big guy I think you want them to get via free agency. Don't forget they are taking on a max guy in Wally. And have Vin on the books next year at 5 million. And are paying Lafrentz 10 or 12 million.

[wade moore]

We ought to make a link to this thread every time someone who occasionally gets frustrated when an aging star football player gets cut starts to complain that NFL salaries ought to be guaranteed like basketball and baseball.
w0rd.

[st.cronin]

Good lord ... Celtics are going nowhere fast. That's a HORRIBLE trade. Blount was bad, yes - so you trade him for somebody WORSE?

[rkmsuf]

Good lord ... Celtics are going nowhere fast. That's a HORRIBLE trade. Blount was bad, yes - so you trade him for somebody WORSE?

People are missing the whole point of the Blount/Kandi portion of the trade.

[st.cronin]

People are missing the whole point of the Blount/Kandi portion of the trade.

:confused:

[rkmsuf]

:confused:

Kandi = last year of his contract...see ya.

Blount = owed about 30 million over the next 4 seasons.

[st.cronin]

Kandi = last year of his contract...see ya.

Blount = owed about 30 million over the next 4 seasons.

Well, it's not that I don't see the value in that - it's that I wasn't ready to give up on this year. It appears Ainge is.

[rkmsuf]

Well, it's not that I don't see the value in that - it's that I wasn't ready to give up on this year. It appears Ainge is.

Have you watched a single game or checked the standings?

You think Blount helps at all? They can lose games with or without him.

[sovereignstar]

Yeah, but the point is Kandi will be a better backup than Blount. I'm not really sold on Perkins yet, but I like Jefferson. I still think they should go shopping for a big man in the offseason.

The Wolves had actually been looking at Blount for 2-3 weeks now, because there supposedly isn't going to be shit for big men comes this offseason. At least according to McHale.

[Desnudo]

Kandi = last year of his contract...see ya.

Blount = owed about 30 million over the next 4 seasons.

Is there anything funnier than the level of performance of an NBA player in the last year of his contract versus the first year of a new one? Really it's all that needs to be used for a complete rebuttal of communism.

[rkmsuf]

Is there anything funnier than the level of performance of an NBA player in the last year of his contract versus the first year of a new one? Really it's all that needs to be used for a complete rebuttal of communism.


No kidding. Blount went from hauling in 15 boards a game to looking like pee-wee herman when he tried to get a defensive board.

Guy is the worst rebounder for his size I can ever remember.

Wait till Garnett is on the floor with this guy. Hilarity will ensue.

[sovereignstar]

Lots of people thought this was Kandi's year because he is in the last year of his deal. Frankly, a couple of stray dreds will catch your attention before any of his game does.

[Hurst2112]

The word on the local radio here is that it's believed that McHale needed to get a trade done and this was his one shot. While I don't follow the NBA, it appears that it was more of a desparation move.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I know little about basketball but every time I've seen Kandi play he sticks out so badly that even I can tell he sucks. His passes are more like random catapult launches. He is awful and it's obvious he just doesn't care that he's awful. Reportedly, the only time he hustles is after the game is over; he hightails it to the nearest nightclub. I realize it's a salary dump, but Celtics' fans, don't expect anything from this guy.

[stevew]

All of this could have been prevented if the Cavs would have just let Ricky sign with the T-Wolves as a restricted FA 2(maybe 3) years ago.

[sovereignstar]

All of this could have been prevented if the Cavs would have just let Ricky sign with the T-Wolves as a restricted FA 2(maybe 3) years ago.

Yeah, there have been Ricky rumors in the Cities for years.

[Desnudo]

No kidding. Blount went from hauling in 15 boards a game to looking like pee-wee herman when he tried to get a defensive board.

Guy is the worst rebounder for his size I can ever remember.

Wait till Garnett is on the floor with this guy. Hilarity will ensue.

Watch Olawawa go crazy the last part of the season and get rewarded with a monster contract. Based on previous results, I'm not optimistic Ainge wouldn't do it.

[rkmsuf]

Watch Olawawa go crazy the last part of the season and get rewarded with a monster contract. Based on previous results, I'm not optimistic Ainge wouldn't do it.

It's going to be hard getting less than 10 minutes a game or not being on the team.

[stevew]

He signed the Wolves offer sheet, but for some reason Paxson was intent on keeping Ricky, so the cavs matched the offer. This after he had about a dozen good games at the end of the previous season. The next season Ricky leads the cavs to the worst record in the league. And I guess to Lebron thankfully.

[Desnudo]

It's going to be hard getting less than 10 minutes a game or not being on the team.

I heard Doc Rivers is going to start him at point guard.

[Sublime 2]

I honestly don't know how a Celtics fan can't be happy with this trade. We got rid of Ainge's worst signing/re-signing ever! Blount is a waste of talent just like Kandi-Man is except maybe in his useless minutes Kandi can grab more than 3 boards. Like someone already said scoring is no problem with this team, defense and rebounding is.

The only guy who has any NBA potential at playing any defense in this trade is Marcus Banks. If some coach can get into his head the kid can most definetly play but it definetly wasn't going to happen in Boston. Davis of course can play defense, when he feels it's necessary. Unfortunately I don't think Wally plays much better D.

[larrymcg421]

1st game post-Blount, Kendrick Perkins gets 13 pts and 11 Rebounds. That's a great start. Even LaFrentz had a nice game with 12 and 10.

[Sublime 2]

Wally showed up as well...certainly he was conforming to a new system with new people but he showed what he can do, spread the defense and hit the open 3.