Hours before the 2013 NBA Draft began, rumors began to pick up steam of a Boston Celtics-Brooklyn Nets trade involving Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. By the time the draft was wrapping up, the deal was confirmed although it cannot be made official until July 10th. Here is a breakdown as to how this trade affects both teams.
Nets Acquire: SF-Paul Pierce, PF-Kevin Garnett, SG-Jason Terry
Celtics Acquire: SF-Gerald Wallace, PF-Kris Humphries, SG-MarShon Brooks, SF-Kris Joseph, SG-Keith Bogans, first round picks in 2014, 2016, and 2018, and the right to swap first round picks in 2017
Why This Makes Sense for the Nets:
We learned last off-season with their acquisition of Joe Johnson and max contract extension for Brook Lopez that Brooklyn is all about winning now and not so worried about what happens in the future. This Net trade further emphasizes the fact that despite being the most improved team in the NBA this past season, they are not satisfied and want to make a serious push at being a title contender. Mission accomplished.
The Nets went from having one of the best starting fives in the league to THE best starting five in the NBA. Deron Williams, Johnson, Pierce, Garnett, and Lopez? All of those guys are capable of dropping 30 on any given night and give first year head coach Jason Kidd so much talent. As long as all five guys stay healthy buy into whatever their role might be for the next season or two, Brooklyn should compete with Miami for the best team in the Eastern Conference even if they did have to mortgage their three future first round picks and now have a MASSIVE team payroll.
If Jason Terry, who Kidd played with in Dallas, can have a bounce back season and add some scoring off the bench; even better. That will be the key for Brooklyn for the rest off-season; adding capable veteran reserves for a cheap price to round out the roster similar to what the Heat have been able to do the past two years.
Why This Makes Sense for the Celtics:
The re-building effort has officially tipped off for the Celtics. With the trades of Doc Rivers, Pierce, and Garnett, Boston has added four future first round picks, Danny Ainge is taking the first steps to blow up the roster but the complication with that is that there isn’t any real cap relief coming from this deal except for Kris Humphries whose $12 million salary comes off the books next season. Wallace is still owed more than $30 million in guaranteed money over the next three years which means he is grossly overpaid considering he is coming off one of his worst seasons in numerous years.
By already trading their head coach and two member of the “Big 3”, you have to wonder what will happen with point guard Rajon Rondo who is recovering from a torn ACL and probably won’t be ready for the start of next season. I doubt he will want to stick around and be part of this transitional period so look for Ainge to shop him as well. Other veterans like Brandon Bass, Courtney Lee, and possibly Jeff Green could also be shopped in hopes of loading up on more draft picks or providing the Celtics cap flexibility for the near future.
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David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag.)
You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.