Odds and Sods

Shortly before the Seattle Supersonics selected Kevin Durant with the 2nd pick in the draft, ESPN reported that the Boston Celtics had traded the #5 Pick in the Draft (Jeff Green), Wally Szczerbiak, and Delonte West to Seattle for guard Ray Allen.

This doesn’t appear to be an ideal trade for Seattle to have made, they have to absorb Szczerbiak’s absurd contract. But, they get a fine player in Jeff Green who should form an excellent battery mate for budding young superstar Kevin Durant, whom the league will hope can actually keep the team in Seattle. Delonte West is also a nice add-on to the deal.

The Celtics’ reasoning is a little more complicated. Getting rid of Szczerbiak’s contract is a plus. Bringing in an established player like Allen may appease Paul Pierce. A nucleus of Allen, Pierce, and Jefferson probably bumps the Celtics from atrocious to plausible playoff contender in the East, where they will promptly be dumped by a real team in the first round.

Allen is a very good player. He’s coming off a career high 26.4 PPG season, is a great shooter, and could be a difference maker in the Eastern Conference. He would actually be amenable to playing in Boston, as he is a semi-hometown boy (having played for UConn). He’s also by most accounts bright, an upstanding citizen, and someone you would love to have in your organization.

However, he is quite simply too old at this point in his career. He will be turning 32 years old next season. He had a great year last season, but was limited to 55 games by injury and is coming off surgeries on both ankles this off-season. Allen would be a better fit with a Miami, a Dallas, or a Phoenix who could contend right away and take advantage of the potential 1-2 good seasons Allen may have left in the tank. With Boston, they need him to be healthy, and even if he is and plays well, it won’t be enough to make a serious playoff run. Giving up that #5 pick, which could have been a potential starter and building block for the organization (particularly after they did the same thing last season) is a very steep price to have paid.

Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Al Jefferson, and nine unproven youngsters is not a team that is going to compete for an NBA Championship now, or with pieces added 2-3 years down the road. The Celtics should be slightly better next season, but not enough to have warranted mortgaging the future of the franchise.

The only person really happy about this is Paul Pierce, who can pretend at least slightly with the presence of Allen, that he is on a team that has a prayer of competing. The question then becomes why is Pierce so integral that his happiness should trump the long-term future of the franchise?

The sad but true answer is that the Celtics believe that Pierce is the one marquee draw that they have (a debatable proposition about whether he is one or not). He is the one player in their minds who attracts interest in the team and keeps people coming to the arena.

In the new NBA, where the financial bottom line is more important than winning, the Celtics would rather maintain the illusion of competing to arouse fan support rather than take a potential financial hit while building for the long term. This is why they persist in the facade that the team is one move away from being a contender, and why the string of trades made under Ainge’s tenure has been laughable.

While they were once the toast of the town, interest in the team more resembles the Bruins than either the Red Sox or the Patriots. In a city that was once the hotbed of basketball, this should be worrisome.