Celtics Trade

I love the trade that sent Ray Allen to the Celtics in exchange for the 5th pick (Jeff Green) plus Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West. This will make a huge difference to the Celtics and I think it puts them in the running for the Eastern Conference Championship next year. The move gives the Celtics a mini-Big Three with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson. Those three will match up well with any three from any team in the East.

I know that Ray Allen is about to be 32 (July 20th) and that Paul Pierce is 30 but Al Jefferson is just 22 and is coming off a season where he averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game. If the Celtics can make it to the playoffs with those 3 players healthy - then anything can happen.

Besides the 22-year old Al Jefferson, the Celtics also have a core of young players like 21-year old Gerald Green, 21-year old Rajon Rondo, 23-year old Kendrick Perkins, 25-year old Tony Allen and 25-year old Ryan Gomes. With Ray Allen and Paul Pierce that's 8 players who can go uptempo and tire out some of the older teams in the East (Toronto being the team that most worries me).

Rounding out the bench would be USC guard Gabe Pruitt who was taken yesterday with their pick at No. 32, LSU's Glen 'Big Baby' Davis who was taken at No. 35 plus Theo Ratliff who not only has a big expiring contract but who also is still a big help on the defensive end when healthy.

Many people are looking for the Celtics to make another move to further upgrade their roster but I think the roster is fine as currently comprised. Sometimes too much tinkering is a bad thing. If the Celtics do make another move - I hope it is just to move the unwanted contracts of Brian Scalabrine (nothing personal Brian - you seem like a fine fellow but I would just as soon not see you in a Celtics uniform next year) and Sebastian Telfair (punk).

When you look at what the Celtics gave up to get Ray Allen - it makes you like the move even more. Jeff Green will be a good but not great player who would have competed for minutes with the Celtics with both Al Jefferson and Ryan Gomes (Seattle hopes that Green will be as good as Al Jefferson but he may be closer to the under-rated Gomes). Wally Szczerbiak has a contract that is huge in comparison to what he brings to the court and lets not forget that he's starting to look a bit brittle. Delonte West played both the point and shooting guard but was not great at either position.

I like this trade a whole lot.