Daily Links 7/1

I did read the Elrod Enchilada article. I guess one’s view of the trade depends on the valuation of the players we sent to Seattle. In my opinion, Wally and Delonte are not starters on a team, but reserves. Jeff Green’s value remains to be determined, but the 3 and 4 spots we are loaded at. The big question is Ray Allen’s health. If he is up to the level he has maintained through his career, I am fine with the trade, and don’t necessarily agree we need to do a Garnett type deal for it all to make sense. Rondo, Ray, Paul, Al, and Perk ( would prefer an upgrade at the 5 unless Perk shows vast improvement ) with the reserves we have is a team I feel can compete in the East. Cleveland made the finals, for goodness sake.

I agree, Po. I said immediately after the trade that it was intended as bait to lure Garnett. (Goodbye, Al.) Expect Green & Allen to stagnate on the bench despite what Doc said about getting Allen on the floor regardless—when he plays his beloved smalls undoubtedly. If Ainge somehow persuades Muggsy (after first getting the green light from Pierce) to come out of retirement, then Doc can really boggy.

boggie

halfman/halfoyster, As to Jeff Green’s value—Mike Gorman said on draft nite that he had spoken with contacts, who’se opinions he respected, and who were very familiar with the Big East—the consensus overwhelmingly said that Ryan Gomes is a better player than Jeff Green. As much as I love Delonte, I really don’t think we basically gave up anything in this trade. Also, if a Garnett deal is still a possibility, and I hope it’s not, I don’t want Al Jeff involved. When people complain about giving up our future in this trade (for Allen), we really will give it up if we trade Al. As good as Garnett is he’s not a low post scorer and this is what we need. To me Al could put up Garnett numbers and Al is a tougher player. He’s also a major part of team chemistry. (I also don’t want to see Perk go). I’d rather go after someone like Mikki Moore, a free agent, to give us some depth at the 4/5 position.

In the Enrod Enchilada article, he states that the Allen deal marginalizes TA and GG. I disagree. Both will get the chance to play with better players on the floor and that will make each of them better. This also gives us the chance to finally reduce PP’s minutes (and Allen’s as well) so they can be fresh at the end of games. I think this trade helps all the young players because we won’t have so many guys trying to figure it out at the same time. I think all the major young players now know their roles. Gomes may still need to figure some things out. TA was getting it. If GG just relaxes he will get it too and if he does he’s a big part of the future. I also think we are overreacting to Allen’s ankles. We seem to be comparing his surgery to Wally’s. Allen’s was to clean out bone fragments, Wally’s was reconstructive—-a big difference. We need to get in the habit of winning. We won’t be competing for a championship, but we can get into the playoffs. With that started we can add pieces as we go along and our younger players will be getting better and better. With some luck we can get a franchise player in the future, but we need to begin thinking about NOW. Till now it’s been all about the future and I think we need to move ahead. Allen will help us do that.

Ainge first got Mark Murphy to talk about Theo Ratliff’s potential to help next season. Next he gets Scott Souza to base his positive account of the trade on the fact that Seattle’s fans are upset at losing Ray Allen. How to manage the media!

And the idea that Jeff Green is about on par with Ryan Gomes is ludicrous.

The Celtics should have taken Yi or a few other players who were available. They might have been better served by looking into moving Pierce for young talent/picks.

The Sonics got rid of Allen for several reasons, chief among them is that he hasn’t played any defense in two years. The Celtics will be defensively challenged next season and that will prevent them from winning a playoff series and perhaps even making the playoffs.