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Market Dried Up

I neglected to post this on Sunday, but found it interesting - via Shira Springer:

Before Sebastian Telfair was arrested early on the morning of April 20 for felony possession of a handgun and speeding, the Celtics knew there were a handful of potential trade outlets for the third-year point guard.

The scenarios were one-for-one deals, with the Celtics' 2007 second-round pick (No. 32) usually thrown into the mix. Think about teams like Atlanta, Cleveland, Denver, Golden State, Houston, Indiana, Memphis, Miami, Minnesota, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Sacramento, and the Clippers that might benefit from backcourt help.

But following the arrest and subsequent remarks from Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck that Telfair had played his last game in a Boston uniform, a league source said the one-for-one deals had evaporated, leaving executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge with little bargaining leverage.

The best deals always dry up when players and teams reach a point of no return. Just ask the 76ers, who had Allen Iverson then Chris Webber dangling, or the Pacers, who knew Ron Artest needed a new home long before he found one.

Ainge basically has two viable options: pursue a multi-player package deal or waive Telfair. The good news for Ainge is that several teams expressed interest in Telfair after Grousbeck's comments sparked false reports that the point guard had been released. See the above list.

So, Wyc's email had an interesting effect. On the positive side, it signals a tough stance on the code of conduct. On the negative side, it signaled to all the teams looking to trade for a young point guard that the price has dropped significantly.

By the way, one last note on Telfair: There has been much made of the fact that the Telfair trade could have cost us a shot at Roy, Foye, or Gay (yes, I know there's no way we were getting Foye, I'm just talking perception here). Well, if someone were to decide to spin the deal in a positive light, here's one way to look at it: Danny LOVED Rondo going into the draft. To the point where he was thinking of using the 7 pick on him (I'm not making this up, it was the hot Chad Ford rumor leading up to the draft). I know he later said that the two moves were independant of each other, but if you take the net result of draft night (ignoring the Powe deal), the C's gave up Raef, the 7 pick, and this year's Cavs pick in exchange for Theo, Rondo, and Telfair. With 20/20 hindsight and a little creative imagination, Rondo would be worth a 7th pick last year and gambling on Telfair only cost us the 24th pick this year. Yes, this is the type of offseason mental gymnastics that gets me drowning in Kool-Aid by October.

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