Wesssside

The biggest news this week is the trade of Kevin Garnett to the Celtics (coincidence it happened right after the NBA gambling scandal??). Everyone is talking about the new Celtic big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and, now, Kevin Garnett. Bottom line from my view is that this was a must do for Boston. With Allen and Pierce already in the fold they needed to do everything in their power to win now. KG might make them the favorite in the East and gives them a legitimate chance to win it all. Of course, they need to supply this group of three with some more complementary pieces, but this is a very impressive nucleus.

When I look at this trade though I see the Western Conference getting that much more interesting. With KG, Minnesota was just another mediocre NBA team. They had KG but not much else. Now with this move, combined with the Draft the T'Wolves have a young nucleus of Al Jefferson, Cory Brewer and Randy Foye. In addition, they have Gerald Green and a couple more draft picks than they did yesterday to mess around with. While this team will prolly struggle mightily this year, they could easily be back in the mix in a short time. Is this just because of this young nucleus?

No it is not. As a result of this deal, and the expiration of other contracts coming off the books this upcoming offseason, the T'Wolves could be $19 million under the cap by next July. They will have the draft picks they need, the money to spend and some valuable young pieces already in place. Minnesotta gave KG 12 years to do what he could to win a title (with little help from a incompetent front office) and they were still able to deal him at a time where his value was at a premium.

In todays NBA some combination of this is what you need when dealing a franchise type player. Young talent, cap space, and draft picks. The T'Wolves were able to maneuver their way into all three. When the Sixers traded Iverson they only got the cap space and the draft picks. For Shaq, the Lakers only got young talent. For Ray Allen, the Sonics got a young player and cap space. Basically when you look at the recent deals for top talent in the NBA, you have to feel that the T'Wolves have everything in place to bounce quickly.

As far as the landscape of the NBA is concerned, this is just going to continue the Western dominance of the NBA. As of right now, the West still has the best three teams in the NBA in Dallas, San Antonio and Phoenix. In addition, they now have the three most intriguing young teams (in my mind) for the future in Seattle, Minnesota and Portland. All three have big time prospects that are 6'10" or higher, have a couple solid young pieces around them and have the flexibility to maneuver in the future. As a fan of the Eastern Conference, this is frustrating and as a fan of the NBA its also frustrating. I would love more competitive balance, but it looks like the Celtics have just helped the West stay on top into the next decade.

Again, from the Celtic perspective this is a deal you have to make and for the next two years it is a risk I would feel comfortable making. For the T'Wolves though, it gives them everything they need to compete within a couple years as well....that is except for a competent GM and coach...oh well, you can't have it all. I know that.....I got the two biggest clowns in sports running my Knicks into the grave..

Quick, I mean very quick MLB Trade Thoughts...

-Finally the Yanks trade Proctor. I love the move for them. He has been overworked the past two season and will break down by the end of next season maybe sooner.
-Braves got a great player in Texiera, but if they don't win this year, next year could be a circus with that contract situation looming....Plus with Andruw most likely gone, they will need a big year from Texiera to compete witht he Mets and Phils.
-Red Sox just won the AL East and maybe the pennant.


STKAFI