Who is today's KG and Ray Allen that we trade for?

[PhoSita]

I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago that got very little attention, but I am just as curious.

The big difference though with all of the suggestions here is that KG and Ray Allen were 30 and 31 years old respectively when they were traded to the Celtics.  They were both on the downside of their careers (albeit still performing at a high level).  Garnett had been on seven All NBA teams (1st, 2nd, or 3rd team) before he was traded to the Celts. 

All of the examples in this thread deal with guys in their early-to-mid 20s.  The oldest example is Carmello who just turned 29.  He's the best example of a KG-type player, someone who is a multiple-All Star who hasn't achieved great success yet.  Kevin Love and Kevin Durant are only 24. 

Looking at all of the most-recent All NBA teams, guys are either too young (Durant or Blake Griffin or Russell Westbrook) or too old (Kobe/Duncan) to fit the KG/Ray Allen model.  Or they're "untradeable" like LeBron or Durant or Chris Paul, now that he's happy with the Clips again.

Dwyane Wade is the only one in the same age-range (he's 31) that KG/Ray Allen were.  Or Tony Parker (31).  Dirk is too old.  Paul George is too young.  Amar'e might fit, but he's been injured too often and isn't the player Garnett was. 

There really isn't a player out there that's 30-ish, that is coming off their 7th straight All-NBA team, disgruntled with their current team or not.

It was just a confluence of events that led to KG being 1) Available, 2) Healthy, 3) Just slightly on the back end of his career, and 4) One of the Top-10 players in the league.

Carmello really is the best example of that right now, with him only being a year or so younger than KG was when he got traded.  Maybe in a few years as guys get older we'll see another example that fits better.  Dwight Howard, if he rebounds into form, will be 31 when his Houston deal ends in 4 years.

I do think that Ainge has more assets now than he did when he got KG.  So our "next KG" may actually be younger than 30/31 if we go this route.  We might actually be able to get a 27-year-old disgruntled player in the next few years.

So the C's need their next stars to already be on the downside of their careers?

I mean, that's the only way Ainge was able to acquire two superstars, including one MVP-caliber guy, for the assets that he had.

Like No Nickname said, it was really a very lucky confluence of events and Danny took full advantage of it.

It's very unlikely we'll see that happen again.

It would be like acquiring Durant and Griffin 6 or 7 years from now.

[KP43]

I'd much rather build a young team up from scratch (like OKC and the Spurs etc.) than trading for 1 or 2 veterans.

[PhoSita]

I'd much rather build a young team up from scratch (like OKC and the Spurs etc.) than trading for 1 or 2 veterans.

I think any team that doesn't have young superstars in place would jump at the opportunity to add two stars with 3-4 years left of high level play.  A 3-5 year window of contention is better than the small chance your young core will turn into a decade-long contender.


The reality is that such opportunities are extremely rare, though.  I mean, the KG + Ray move was pretty much unprecedented, wasn't it?  Has a team ever added veteran stars of that caliber before (via trade, not free agency) and had that kind of immediate success?

[connor]

People are really underselling the careers KG and Ray had before they came here if they think guys like LaMarcus Aldridge, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, or even Kevin Love measure up.


To be on that level we need to be talking about sure-fire Hall of Famers on the tail end of their prime.  Guys who are perennial All-Stars.  Guys who have been the best player on good teams.  At least one guy who has been a legitimate MVP candidate for multiple years and even perhaps won an MVP.

In other words, the guys we would need to be talking about would have to skew more towards superstar than mere star.

None of the guys people have been mentioning are established enough to have that kind of pedigree (and most never will). I think the hope is that if we were able to bring in a guy like Aldridge or Love or Gordon they would get to that level at some point as they continue to get older or alternatively that they would be able to be paired with a superstar of the KG/PP level to make a contending team.

If we can get a high lottery pick this year to add to Rondo and Green and then chase one or even two of the guys that have been mentioned we'd be back the level of competing that we were with the Big 3 and much younger so hopefully our window will be open much longer so we can add and subtract pieces as necessary.

The fact that we were able to add HOF talent like KG and to a lesser extent Ray Allen was an absolute fluke/steal. I don't think we can only look for that kind of move and have to set our sights lower on guys who could eventually get to that level.

If we were really chasing a KG/PP/Allen trio again we would be pursuing Dirk and Pau and guys like Bosh/Amare/Manu etc. But I think Danny would rather take this opportunity to build for the long term and then try to add that kind of veteran future HOF presence to a young core.

[Vermont Green]

Like others have said, the chance that a KG-Allen scenario is going to fall in place again is highly unlikely.

At this point, I think we are more likely reconstruct with younger players.  For example trading Rondo for Drummond or something like that.  Drummond becomes the next KG and someone we draft becomes the next RA.  Then maybe we trade for or sign another star in a couple of years to round out the next generation of big 3.

[hpantazo]

People are really underselling the careers KG and Ray had before they came here if they think guys like LaMarcus Aldridge, Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, or even Kevin Love measure up.


To be on that level we need to be talking about sure-fire Hall of Famers on the tail end of their prime.  Guys who are perennial All-Stars.  Guys who have been the best player on good teams.  At least one guy who has been a legitimate MVP candidate for multiple years and even perhaps won an MVP.

In other words, the guys we would need to be talking about would have to skew more towards superstar than mere star.

None of the guys people have been mentioning are established enough to have that kind of pedigree (and most never will). I think the hope is that if we were able to bring in a guy like Aldridge or Love or Gordon they would get to that level at some point as they continue to get older or alternatively that they would be able to be paired with a superstar of the KG/PP level to make a contending team.

If we can get a high lottery pick this year to add to Rondo and Green and then chase one or even two of the guys that have been mentioned we'd be back the level of competing that we were with the Big 3 and much younger so hopefully our window will be open much longer so we can add and subtract pieces as necessary.

The fact that we were able to add HOF talent like KG and to a lesser extent Ray Allen was an absolute fluke/steal. I don't think we can only look for that kind of move and have to set our sights lower on guys who could eventually get to that level.

If we were really chasing a KG/PP/Allen trio again we would be pursuing Dirk and Pau and guys like Bosh/Amare/Manu etc. But I think Danny would rather take this opportunity to build for the long term and then try to add that kind of veteran future HOF presence to a young core.

I agree. Lets not forget that acquiring KG and Ray back then was plan B for Ainge after gettin Oden or Durant failed.