FanPost

My First Trade Idea (If The Celtics Run It Back)

This is my first trade idea that I think could help both teams.

Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee, and Jordan Crawford for Pau Gasol and Steve Blake

The trade works on the ESPN Trade Machine. This is why both teams do it.

Lakers:

  • The Lakers would be sending out 23 million dollars in salary, and taking in a little less than 12.2 million.
  • The Lakers would receive Brandon Bass, an old teammate that Dwight Howard knows well, and would hopefully entice him to re-sign with the Lakers. In addition, Bass brings a more consistent jump shot to the team, as well as help floor spacing from the bench unit. If the Lakers do keep Bass on the bench, it'll allow Earl Clark to get the nod at starting power forward where he played so well last season.
  • With Lee, the Lakers add another bench scorer that can stretch the floor and most importantly play defense. World Peace and Kobe are getting up there in age, and so it's becoming increasingly harder for them to guard scoring 1's and 2's. Lee brings the defense, the offense, and once again brings a familiar face to Dwight Howard.
  • Jordan Crawford may not be as reliable as Bass or Lee scoring-wise, but he's certainly an upgrade from any shooting guard not named Kobe Bryant or Courtney Lee on the Lakers.

Celtics:

  • Pau Gasol struggled a lot last season due to injuries, but hopefully he'd be healthy enough to produce. With Bass gone, Gasol can become the starting Center (a position where he briefly prospered for 3 games. He averaged 20 points, and 8.7 rebounds shooting 48.8% from the field when Howard went down, and Gasol was the starting Center. The Lakers also went 3-0), and he'll move Garnett to the 4 position where KG is most comfortable.
  • Gasol also brings a 2nd low post scoring option to the squad, and a player that can go 20 and 10 on any given night. Defensively, I say he does a good job despite many people calling him soft. He has a high basketball IQ, and plus he's paired with KG, so he should be able to play solid d.
  • Steve Blake gives the Celtics a back up point guard. I wouldn't necessarily call him a pass-first kind of guy, but he is a player that can consistently give you 5+ assists a night off the bench. His assist to turnover ratio is also pretty good, so you know he doesn't get too reckless with the passing.
  • Rondo plays heavy minutes, so Blake won't really play back up point guard for too long, and so he can play off the ball and become the shooting guard on the court.

Reasons Why The Lakers May Not Do It:

  • They don't want to get rid of Pau Gasol.
  • They don't like the length of Bass and Lee's contract.
  • Trading away Blake leaves the Lakers without a productive back up point guard.

Reasons Why The Celtics May Not Do It:

  • After Rondo and Bradley, the bench guards can become a liability on defense. Steve Blake + Jason Terry may spread the floor really well, but would probably have a hard time guarding the opposition.
  • It thins out the guard rotation to just Rondo, Bradley, Blake, Terry, and Williams, as opposed to Rondo, Bradley, Terry, Lee, Crawford, and Williams.
  • The Celtics would be taking on a lot of salary.
  • Gasol is 32 (turning 33 in July), and Steve Blake is 33.

  • Gasol and Blake are both injury prone.

Potential 10-man rotation:

PG: Rondo/Blake SG: Bradley/Terry SF: Pierce/Green (or Green as a starter, Pierce off the bench, I'd flip a coin) PF: Garnett/Sullinger C: Gasol/Randolph

(The Celtics should keep Williams, White, and Wilcox if the salary caps will let them.)

***

Overall this trade is to address the lack of low-post scoring the Celtics have. Gasol, Sullinger, and Randolph can all play under the rim, draw fouls and finish around the basket. In addition, just in case Garnett and Gasol play no more than 30 minutes a game, Sullinger and Randolph are young enough to give the Celtics good productive minutes.

The backcourt will take some blows both offensively, and defensively, but with the all the low-post, frontcourt scoring the Celtics should have, it can open up the court for the Celtic guards to score.

Note: I didn't involve any draft picks when making this trade, so perhaps the Celtics could find a player to help remedy the new problems that may arise with this trade.

What are your thoughts? Can this trade happen? Should it happen? Would this team even be a championship-contender? Is blowing it up just a better option?

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