A King on the Way?
The debate over whether Ron Artest should or shouldn't be a Celtics is a waste of time. There is simply no way that Wyc and crew can acquire a guy like Artest and still have any shred of credibility. They installed a code of conduct and already put one player (Telfair) on the trading/waiving block because of it. The Patriots have been winning rings and making playoff runs and they still got flak for taking on Randy Moss. The Celtics quite simply couldn't take the public relations hit (and in the Wyc Era, that means as much if not more than actually winning games).
So where can Artest go? The pickings are slim. Unless Donald Sterling backs off his refusal to trade Corey Maggette, the offer will likely look like: Antoine Walker and Jason Williams for Artest and Kenny Thomas, Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson for Artest and Francisco Garcia, or Hedo Turkoglu and Carlos Arroyo for Artest and John Salmons. Not terribly appealing if you're a Kings fan.
However, while Artest might be off-limits, the target the Celtics could look at is Mike Bibby. Bibby could offer a decent short-term fix for the PG position. If karma bites the tanking C's in the ass and we end up with the #3 to #5 pick, a swap of Wally and #3 for Bibby and #10 has to be considered. The fact that Danny Ainge also supposedly has his eyes on Al Thornton could make this move even more of a possibility.
The question is, does Bibby have enough left in the tank to validate dropping possibly 7 spots to get him. Now, the first part of this answer is what does dropping seven spots mean? Right now, I'm not so sure that they guy going 14th isn't going to be better than the guy going #3. Still, is Mike Bibby really worth passing up top choice of the rest of the draftees?
Personally, I don't have a definite stance on this (I prefer to have a veteran PG and am confident in the depth of the draft but I've never been a huge fan of Bibby as a pro), but this type of deal (if not this deal in particular) is the question that Celtics fans are going to have to consider should we not get a top 2 pick come the 22nd.
So where can Artest go? The pickings are slim. Unless Donald Sterling backs off his refusal to trade Corey Maggette, the offer will likely look like: Antoine Walker and Jason Williams for Artest and Kenny Thomas, Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson for Artest and Francisco Garcia, or Hedo Turkoglu and Carlos Arroyo for Artest and John Salmons. Not terribly appealing if you're a Kings fan.
However, while Artest might be off-limits, the target the Celtics could look at is Mike Bibby. Bibby could offer a decent short-term fix for the PG position. If karma bites the tanking C's in the ass and we end up with the #3 to #5 pick, a swap of Wally and #3 for Bibby and #10 has to be considered. The fact that Danny Ainge also supposedly has his eyes on Al Thornton could make this move even more of a possibility.
The question is, does Bibby have enough left in the tank to validate dropping possibly 7 spots to get him. Now, the first part of this answer is what does dropping seven spots mean? Right now, I'm not so sure that they guy going 14th isn't going to be better than the guy going #3. Still, is Mike Bibby really worth passing up top choice of the rest of the draftees?
Personally, I don't have a definite stance on this (I prefer to have a veteran PG and am confident in the depth of the draft but I've never been a huge fan of Bibby as a pro), but this type of deal (if not this deal in particular) is the question that Celtics fans are going to have to consider should we not get a top 2 pick come the 22nd.
Comments
Interesting.
All I know is this: Regardless of what happens on May 22nd, this franchise is at a point where it has got to make a move or two. These moves must be perfect, smart moves that will put us into contention without costing us our future.
When you look at the long list of Danny's trades do you feel confident he will make a good, near perfect move this summer?
If he does, it will be his first.
Posted by: ShamRoxStar | May 15, 2007 04:37 PM
The "stay the course" crap is, has been and remains nonsense. These kids won what? Four games without Paul Pierce, the guy many want to deal.
Despite the cheapness and stupidity with which this club has been run, there's a clear way out - land the 1 or 2, and build a package around Green, Theo's rotting corpse and future picks we don't need to land either a veteran PG, an inside defender or both.
Ainge and Wyc have been selling potential for as long as George WMD Bush has been selling his vision for Iraq. Both were as wrong as they could be. Time to clear both up.
Posted by: Jungle Jim | May 16, 2007 02:52 AM