It appears that while the basketball world was waiting breathlessly for Kobe Bryant's latest change of heart (and reading the manufactured quotes from his "fans" on the message board of kb24.com)former teammates Kevin McHale and Danny Ainge started discussions on a blockbuster that would shift the Eastern Conference. ESPN cronies Henry Abbott and Chad Ford each are hyping up a rumored deal that would send Kevin Garnett to Boston.
In this scenario, Boston would send Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, and change to Minnesota along with the No. 5 pick in the upcoming draft. In exchange, the Celtics would get Garnett.
While a six-for-one trade would create some awkward roster dilemmas, it could work for Boston in this case because the Celtics would be giving up only one member of their core: Jefferson. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves would get an emerging low-post star, a wing player with a lot of upside, another high draft pick and future cap flexibility.
It passes the smell test. Garnett would team with Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo to make the Celtics both a playoff team and contender for a slot in the Finals while Jefferson, Green and the pick would jumpstart the rebuilding process in Minnesota. Ratliff and Telfair are just contracts and offer some down-the-line cap flexibility. The Celtic side makes sense for Ainge because he's desperate to get a winning team in town even if it ends up selling out the future while McHale needs to show a long-term approach. Basically, the two teams would be swapping mindsets as well as assets.
There are some potential snags. Garnett, of course, can opt out of his deal after next season which means the Celtics would run the risk of losing him after just one year. They'd likely sign him to a new deal that forgoes that possibility but then they would be tied into a Garnett-Pierce future. Which would eventually lead to the undermanned rosters of the last few years but who cares. That's a risk worth taking for a team that needs to get better to help Ainge but also to return some legitimacy to a team that sold its soul for an unsuccessful run at Oden and Durant this year. And it's a risk worth taking when LeBron James could carry a band of nobodies to the Finals from the East.
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