Can Danny: What's Would You Do with Jesus?
The man who was Jesus (Shuttlesworth, that is) might need to be moved to help the Celtics fill out their bench. As it stands, the Celtics' bench is non-existant and things are only getting worse since Big Baby is a free agent and Tony Allen isn't. If the Celtics don't want to deal Rondo (which seems to be how most people feel), then Ray might be the odd man out.
Allen has a ton of trade value since he's a big expiring deal and an All-Star to boot. Teams that are building would love him because he has a killer worth ethic that you'd love your prospects to pick up and contenders would love to add him as a final piece to the puzzle.
So where might he go?
Honestly, I don't know.
The main problem with dealing Ray Allen is that the Celtics will likely have to take back a bad contract to make the deal work and if they do that, it limits their ability to use the MLE. And if the C's can't use the MLE then Allen's deal has to give: a starting SG, backup swingman, and backup big man.
The only deal that came close to that was: Ray Allen for Brandan Wright, Corey Maggette, Kelenna Azubuike, and Jamal Crawford. And to be honest, I don't think there's any way that the Warriors agree to that. They'd probably replace Azubuike with Belinelli but even then I have to imagine they'd want more for Wright and one of their young guards than a one year rental of Ray Allen.
Another option is Ray Allen for Kyle Korver, Andrei Kirilenko, and the #20 pick. The Jazz dump the last year of AK-47's deal which might make it easier for them to re-sign Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur. They also get the best SG they've had since Adrian Dantley (no offense to Blue Edwards). There should be a talented player let at #20 to help fill out the roster. Still, part of me prefers just sticking with Ray. We could go after Koufos and the #20 instead of Korver but I'm not sure if Utah does that.
Andrea Bargnani, Jason Kapono, and Anthony Parker (S&T) is nice but it still leaves us with Parker as our starting SG and we'd have to find a cheap SG to back up him.
These deals don't work which leaves the option of Rondo and Allen moved together in a deal but I think that limits what the Celtics can get in return. They might get a better player but I doubt it solves any of their current problems, primarily that Paul Pierce simply can not be expected to deliver in the playoffs if he has to play 37 minutes a night during the regular season.
A big part of me wants to just stick with what we have but I know that the odds of that working out aren't great. Something's got to give and if we stand pat, that something's probably the bodies of our Big Three.
