The Celtics Experience Shrinkage
Usually, at the NBA trading deadline, there are a couple of minor trades here and there, Troy Murphy and Tim Thomas get thrown in to make the money work, and the league’s balance of power remains largely unchanged.
Not this year and certainly not in the Atlantic Division. Overnight, by trading a bunch of .500-caliber ballplayers and Timofey Mozgov, the Knicks made themselves a whole lot better with the addition of another superstar-and-a-half. The Celtics went in the opposite direction by trading their starting center for a much smaller guy who will be of zero help versus any team with a scoring center or power forward. Still, as far as the division goes, the Celtics have the crown sewn up, the Knicks will be trouble for first-round playoff opponents and the Sixers are better than the other two teams, both of which are terrible. No, seriously, that’s all I have.
The Celtics (42–15)
Here’s the thing: the Celtics championship window is closing. The combined ages of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce is around 186. There is one, maybe two years after this when the present lineup will be able to walk, much less compete, against the conference’s big boys (the Heat, Magic and now, the Knicks). So the decision to trade their young starting center, Kendrick Perkins, for the talented but formerly-unable-to-hack-Boston wingman Jeff Green makes about as much sense as that Nets owner trading his only two good players for a point guard that will run for the hills in eighteen months.
The reason the Celtics have beaten the Heat this season is because they have size and discipline and a stout interior defense. Kendrick Perkins was a huge part of that. And, presumably, he and Rajon Rondo would continue to be a solid core long after the original Big Three are done playing.
But Danny Ainge decided that the team would be hard pressed to sign Perkins in the offseason and so he shipped him out. Big mistake. You show me a team that worries about next year and I’ll show you a team that isn’t winning squat this year. “Win now” should be written on every blackboard in every locker room. The Celtics were built to do so. They were firmly inside the Heat players’ heads. And overnight they’ve become a smaller team that is going to get run around and, occasionally, pushed around. No wonder KG was cursing up a storm when he heard the news.
New York Knicks (30–27)
The Knicks traded a lot of players for Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. But if you watched Sunday night’s win over the Miami Heat, you quickly realized that the Knicks have not had players with this much talent since the early ’70s. Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Raymond Felton are not All-Stars. Maybe they will be at some point, but I wouldn’t bet on it. But Billups, Anthony and Stoudemire have been and will make for a dangerous playoff opponent. All three get to the line and make their free throws. Anthony especially is nearly impossible to defend. And they don’t call Chauncey Billups “Mr. Big Shot” for nothing. Still, after watching the three games since the trade, I have to admit: they still look way too small to win the East, but now that the Celtics have gifted them, one never knows.
Philadelphia Sixers (30–29)
They aren’t fun to watch. That much is obvious. But they do have very good players in Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand and a total of nine guys that play twenty minutes per night. Players like Jrue Holiday, Thaddeus Young and Louis Williams are promising and offer the team an ability to shuffle players in and out. Keeping everyone fresh. For what I don’t know. Their playoff run will be more like a hop. And done. The team probably couldn’t find a better teacher for the circumstance than fresh-faced Doug Collins who, miraculously, has them playing hard. Still, there isn’t enough firepower to beat the division’s top teams. And let’s not forget that they get to feast upon the twin corpses of the Nets and Raptors, which helps to pad their record. If the Sixers happen to make it to the playoffs — and the conference’s general softness indicates that they will — that is where the unmasking will truly begin.
New Jersey Nets (17–30)
Give team owner Mikhail Prokhorov credit: he took his shot, trading two studs, Derrick Favors and Devin Harris for an incredible player: point guard and malcontent Deron Williams. The problem is that Williams’ will be a free agent after the 2012 season. And the Nets, bereft of talent and with a screechy, control-freak of a coach in Avery Johnson, are about as attractive to free agents as Chris Christie in a Speedo. This season is all about “finishing strong” and next season will be about “showing progress.” But those are just words written in a souvenir program. With or without Williams, this team is terrible. And in 2013, when their starting point guard is either Steve Nash or Mike Bibby, their fans will have the misfortune of watching the newest Knick Williams torment them on a nightly basis. How does one say “oops” in Russian?
Toronto Raptors (16–42)
I have a lot of friends from Toronto. They all have glasses, sport short hair and smile a lot. They read books and are constantly out and about. And yet they couldn’t name three Raptors, the head coach or the GM. I can’t say that I blame them, either. The Raptors have only two players on their roster that average over 15 points per game (Andrea Bargnani and DeMar DeRozen) and a total of zero players that average over 7 boards). Chris Bosh was probably right to leave because even if he had stayed, they still would’ve been putrid. Not to mention, it’s Canada. Playing hoops in Canada is like playing rugby in Mexico. Fan support is so lax that if this team isn’t playing in Vegas or Anaheim in three years I will be shocked.
Tony Gervino is a New York City-based editor and writer obsessed with honing his bio to make him sound quirky. He can also be found here.