Can Danny?

Let's say the Sports Guy is on to something and the going rate for Allen Iverson in Celtics green is currently: Theo Ratliff, Al Jefferson, Gerald Green, and a 2007 first round pick. If we make this deal, where do we stand as a team and what do we need to do to reach the next level?

After that Iverson deal, our team would be:

• C: Perkins, Dwayne Jones, Brian Grant
• PF: Gomes, Powe
• SF: Wally, Scalabrine
• SG: Pierce, West, Allen,
• PG: AI, Telfair, Rondo

    Needless to say, the talent/salaries of this roster are not spread out very well. Briant Grant is supposedly retiring which leaves us with a front court that consists of two tweeners at the 4 and two project centers (all of whom, combined, make about one-fifth of Allen Iverson's salary) Clearly, we have too many players in the backcourt who will be wasting away on the bench.
    Wally is the most obvious goner because he's the only non-rookie deal salary we'd have as a trade chip. With Wally gone, it's likely that Pierce moves up to the small forward spot and you then need to figure out which of the remaining guards gets minutes and which gets shipped off. Telfair is the best prospect, in my opinion, but I just don't see The Answer working well with a pure point guard. Bassy and A.I. are both players who need to work with the ball in their hands. That would leave AI, West, Pierce as our starters. West will get most of the backup minutes at the point with Allen filling his spot. Gomes can slide down to the small forward position at times. Rondo gets the other minutes that are kicking around.
    With AI making 20 million and Pierce just signed to an extension, it doesn't seem very likely that we will use the full MLE on anyone this offseason. Not that there are a ton of legitimate big men options on the free market anyway. Because of this, what we can get in trades is going to be absolutely key to our future success.     This being so, the next question is what can we get for Wally and Bassy? Wally's likely value is the usual suspects at power forward: Zach Randolph, Kenyon Martin, Carlos Boozer and Drew Gooden (sign and trade) but only Cleveland makes a likely trade partner. Portland has Martell Webster as their SF of the future while Wally can't handle the two which is where he'd have to play in Utah and Denver. New York might be interested in Wally but the best we'd likely get back from them is Mo Taylor or Malik Rose. Drew Gooden is solid but he's not going to help us defensively. For what we'd likely have to pay Drew, I'd rather stick with Gomes. The Kings have a number of guys to package for Wally but with Artest best suited for the small forward spot and Kevin Martin emerging at the off-guard, I don't see them being interested. Right now, I can't see many deals that both make sense and make us much better.
    With Bassy, it's a crap shoot. Some teams might be interested in going after him but what's on the market? The Rockets need a PG but have nothing to offer. We could hope that Atlanta might be willing to deal Josh Smith to us for Bassy but even then, Josh is another 'tweener (and likely would cost us more than Telfair). Again, Telfair is a tough sell.
    Like it or not, Ainge will likely have to look into moving Delonte West, the remaining Celtic prospect with any trade value. But even then, the guys we'd likely be looking at getting back would be Nick Collison-level players who aren't exactly solidifying the frontcourt for Truth and the Answer.
    In essence, acquiring Iverson doesn't change the focus of Ainge's job. Right now, he needs to find the right players to build around his star. After an Iverson deal, the only difference would be that "star" would become plural. We would still need to find players not just to fill the roster but to play extensive minutes in the paint. Can Danny do it? The Celtics should make the playoffs with the aforementioned roster but I doubt that they'd make it very far in the second season. On top of that, we wouldn't even have our pick to use to grab a big man in the 2007 draft. And if that wasn't enough, Kendrick Perkins would have a ridiculous amount of leverage in contract extension talks.

    So really, the question shouldn't be, Should we trade for A.I.? It should be, Will there be enoug left to build a championship contender around him and Pierce? Right now, I think it is an uphill battle with little room for error.