I'm the same guy who argued during the playoffs that the phrase "Jump the shark" should be changed to "Going GP on us." That's how gawd-awful he looked last spring. Worst-case scenario: He looks like the same GP from the 2004 playoffs.
Best-case scenario: He hooks himself up to the Juvenation Machine and becomes their second offensive option. And by the way, the Nuggets picked fifth and third in the following two years. Instead, he used it in 2001 to select Kedrick Brown, who eventuallly became the Cal Ripken Jr. (Note: Hopefully the Celts learned their lesson from the Chris Wallace Debacle a few years ago, when Wallace could have kept rolling over a future No. But why even take it now? Why not roll the dice and hope the Lakers stink one of these years?Īl Jefferson showed the Celtics he's ready to contribute. 1 pick from the Bullets, if only because Wes Unseld is running the Bullets" - come into play here? At best, they're a seventh or eighth seed in the West, which would put the pick in the mid-teens this season.
EVER FORWARD GARY SIMMONS TRIAL
who knows with the Lakers? How will Kobe's trial play out? How will a team with 25 new players mesh? Are they even a playoff team in the loaded West? And with Mitch Kupchak running the show, doesn't the old Unseld Corollary - "It never hurts to have a future No. Assuming the Celtics can move Davis, they will be under the cap next summer for the first time since Michael Jackson looked relatively normal.Ģ. Now they have just four major contracts after 2005 - Paul Pierce (making the max) Mark Blount (just signed a six-year, $38.6 million deal) Raef LaFrentz (we don't want to talk about this one) and Ricky Davis (who could be the next to go). Not only are Payton and Fox coming off the cap next summer, but Fox can either retire or accept a buyout before then, if he wants to concentrate on his budding acting career (look out Denzel!). The Celtics made the trade for three reasons:ġ. Personally, I don't think you're competing for an NBA title with Mihm and Banks in your rotation, but that's just me. They're also getting an athletic big body (Mihm) who can float between forward and center and will remind every Lakers fan of Travis Knight by December (and not in a good way). Now they have a solid point guard to replace Derek Fisher (Atkins), as well as a change-of-pace guy with potential (Banks, who's either the next Robert Pack, a poor man's Robert Pack, or just plain poor, depending on where you stand on him). And he's bringing in two veterans whose contracts expire next summer.Īs for the Lakers, they needed bodies to fill out the nine-man rotation on the Kobe Traveling All-Stars. He's (hopefully) upgrading from Atkins to Payton. He replaced Banks's value (as a former No. He didn't need Mihm because stud high schooler Al Jefferson is ready to play right away. He didn't need Banks because the coaching staff loves ( loves, LOVES) Delonte West.
In the process, Ainge finally learned the best lesson you can learn as an NBA GM: Build around your core guys, dump everyone else who doesn't matter, clear as much cap space as you can. 1 pick (lottery protected in 2005, top-10 protected in 2006, top-three protected in 2007, unprotected after that) and cash. In return, the Celtics received Gary Payton, Rick Fox, a conditional No. On Friday, the Boston Celtics GM pulled off his best deal in 15 months on the job, signing restricted free-agent center Chris Mihm, then trading him to the Lakers with Chucky Atkins, Marcus Banks and a 2005 second-round pick. The Celtics hope Gary Payton's offensive skills haven't totally faded.
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