NY Times: Big Trades Don’t Come With Guarantees
Posted by Justin Kubatko on February 25, 2011
It is rare for a player who just played in the All-Star Game to be dealt to another team before the end of the season, but this week it happened twice. For this week's column I took a look at some of the more recent deals involving these players:
Keeping Score: Big Trades Don’t Come With Guarantees
This column appears in today's print edition as well.
February 25th, 2011 at 10:58 am
So Boston's championship starting five won't get a chance to repeat . . . ever. Lose your toughness and bench wildcard for Pierce's backup and a center that can't defend. Terrible move by Ainge.
And don't give me talk about Shaq. Pick and roll him, he's out of the game. End of the game - foul him, he's out of the game. BAD, BAD, BAD move.
February 25th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
All I can think is that Perk's knee is worse than we know and Ainge didn't trust him to make it through the playoffs...
February 25th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
But why would OKC take him if that was the case? Peter May and Bob Ryan are saying the celts got the better player, based on the fact that Green scores more; these guys get paid for that kind of grade-school analysis?
February 25th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
PS Why would you start "rebuilding" a team that is favored to win it all right now?
February 25th, 2011 at 4:16 pm
Makes no sense. None.
Some people floated the idea that Green will cover Bron and Melo and Kobe should need be in the playoffs, that way Pierce remains fresh. Unfortunately, it was not playing defense that wore out Pierce in the East Playoffs and NBA Finals. It was BEING covered by Bron and Artest.
Also, Green now has a giant target on his back when it comes to Melo and Bron and Kobe. "This is the guy you brought in to stop me? He is now a light snack."
February 25th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Speaking of defense, Green just spent the past four months (if not the past 3 years) getting lit up by every PF in captivity:
http://www.82games.com/1011/10OKC9.HTM#onoff
http://www.82games.com/1011/10OKC9.HTM#bypos
I know, I know, he'll be playing more SF now. But still, he's shown nothing on the defensive end as an NBA player, and his offense is singularly unimpressive (what exactly does he do well?). The only positive is that he's 24, so maybe there's some growth potential left.
February 25th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I stand corrected -- he's good at avoiding turnovers. Which sounds neat until you realize he has just 0.74 touches per minute.
March 1st, 2011 at 9:47 pm
The Knicks will have to play defense more consistently to be relevant in June. They CAN defend against a team like the Heat in spurts-------but they'll have to dedicate themselves to it full time... and like the fat guy who CAN lose weight eating more salads, I just don't think the Knicks have the intestinal fortitude or mindset/ focus to make a habit of it as they are currently constituted.
The moves by the Celtics cannot be judged IMO until the moves are complete. Banking on the O'Neals to be there in June is a gamble. But the adding of Green and Krstic aren't the end of the maneuvering. If Troy Murphy joins the team and maybe a Corey Brewer or Leon Powe (both rumors at this point)----then Ainge's moves could be viewed as 'good gambles'. In some corners, staying put with Kendrick Perkins (who may have bad wheels)and no depth at SF could be viewed as a gamble. Troy Murphy is a better rebounder than Perkins is---or was not too long ago. For all of his positives (defensive anchor/ toughness), Perkins was a big man who didn't finish that great inside and who wasn't a great rebounder. Will the C's miss his defense of Howard? Could be. We'll see. Should the Celtics build themselves around defending Dwight Howard 1:1? Maybe not. We'll all find out how smart Ainge is soo enough.