While Wally World has been injured for a little while, he's still played fairly well. I thought the whole trade was a mistake originally, but it seems to be working out. I'm also watching the Minnesota game, and it's helped me see the players involved for what they are. The team records are similar in nature. Minny is 5-10 and Boston 6-8 since the trade. Boston has also played its best basketball of the year, mostly on the road. Boston has played some close ones, as well. It appears that Minnesota only comes out ahead in that it got more players. The only revelation has been Banks, but he isn't doing anything that Celtics fan wouldn't expect. -Ricky Davis. Same poor defense, good scoring ability, and the same deadly turnovers. Ricky and Garnett like to do most of their scoring from the exact same spot, high post jumpers. They get in each other's way. Not as good on the break as he should be. -Marcus Banks. Getting to the hoop. Better than average on ball d, but not as great as we've seen him play. Not a point guard, still too many turnovers to far too few assists. Not good range on the jumper. Also not good on the break. -Justin Reed. Same scrappy play, not a scorer, not a lot of minutes. Can rebound some and play a little d. -Mark Blount. A marshmallow could still beat his ass. Long jumpers, doesn't show for games. You can already tell that Garnett isn't a huge fan. Still doesn't make motivated rotations, and is always looking to take the charge on driving guards who can easily avoid him. In short, Minnesota hasn't really improved via the trade. If Banks improves, things may change, but he's the only real x-factor so far. Maybe Reed can show something, but Ricky and Garnett are not complementary. Wally Szcerbiak has been hurt, but I've liked what I've seen -Wally. D that's roughly parallel to Ricky's. A smarter player by quite a bit. A much better long-range shooter. Opens things up for Pierce because teams know that Wally can beat them. Doubles aren't coming nearly as quick to drivers. Has also started to go to the hoop a little more. Rebounding isn't great, and neither is his passing, but he's not terrible at either. Good free throw shooter with fakes that get him to the line. Understands the offense and defense better than most of the players already on the team. -Olowokandi. More useful than expected, still not good. Off the books in the near future. Unlike Blount, hasn't tricked Doc into playing him. -Some guy named Dwayne. Schintzius maybe? Casey? Jones? Hasn't come off the bench. Will make the Florida Flame better when everyone gets healthy. For the Celtics, a splendid example of addition by subtraction. The injuries and the subsequent arrival of Ryan Gomes complicate this assessment, but my belief is that Pierce and the rest of the team are happier without Mark Blount. My other theory is that Doc's crappy player rotations are less likely to get into player's heads. -Delonte doesn't have to worry about Banks, and no one has to worry about trying to defend an extra man with Blount on the floor. -I suspect this will lead to fewer fouls on the inside for the rest of the season, because LaFrentz may not be what he once was, but he's still better about cutting people off than Blount. -Gomes got Reed's spot and has proven himself to be much more useful. So, the trade was no heist for either team, but the Celts came out ahead.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">a splendid example of addition by subtraction</div> Nice post...i agree with most of what you said...in docs defence i'm sure they only played him at the start of the season to showcase him for a trade...it worked...and for that reason alone the Celtics are HUGE winners in this trade
Whenever you can unload a horrible contract and recieve an expiring one, it's a good deal. Unless you trade away a marquee talent to sweeten the deal. We did do that, but we recieved equal value in Wally. I look at Banks and Reed as throw-ins...as they were our worst young guys. They both didn't fit so we basically had no use for them. As of now, we look to have won the deal. Minnesota was supposed to get better right away, acquiring what they thought were upgrades in Davis and Blount. Well, they haven't. If anything, they're worse. We, on the other hand, have opened up playing time for Gomes, who is obviously a player. And Wally is a better fit for our system alongside Pierce.
Don't the Celtics also end up with a first round pick from the Wolves, too? This trade ends up being a steal for them. Although they unload Blount's contract, but take on Wally World's, I'm sure Celtic fans feel better taking on the contract of someone who actually produces. I liked Davis with Boston. He was a good scorer and an energy guy, but the Celtics, to me, are better off with Wally who, as 44 said, can take pressure off Pierce and allow him to score more freely. Playing a full training camp with the Celtics this summer, I think he can have even more of an impact.
