Celtics trade: Kevin Garnett's 21mil expiring contract
Portland trades: Lamarcus Aldridge, Someone to even out salaries(Camby, Wallace, Oden)
With Boston giving Portland some picks (Clippers 2012, Their own 2012, or others)
Why Boston does this: If Danny is committed to a flawless transition, he needs to either trade KG or Ray's expiring contract. 21mil coming of the books for a team is huge. While I love Kevin Garnett, we need someone younger in the post. I would be thrilled if we brought KG back in the 2012 off season, but for now, we need some value for his contract. Plus Aldridge's contract is very desirable because he took a pay cut a few years back for Brandon Roy.
Why Portland does this: Portland won't win a title until Brandon Roy's contract is up. That means they need to get someone younger than Aldridge. He's 25 and when Roy's contract is up, he will be 28. That really only leaves 2-3 good years left of Aldridge. With that, they're a 5-7 seed at best. Portland needs to rebuild and get draft picks. While I'm not sure we could get Aldridge and Camby, there would have to be someone else to make the salaries work. It may seem odd for Portland to trade their blossoming star, but they won't get anywhere deep with Brandon Roy's contract.
With a core of Green, Aldridge, and Rondo, the Celtics would be set for a big free agent to come in and propel them to the championship. I hate the idea of trading KG, but a 21 million expiring contract is desirable for teams who need to focus on the future. Even if we don't win the championship in 2012, we should still make this trade. Then we could resign KG in the 2012 off season and make a push for Dwight. Rondo and Aldridge are on cost-efficient contracts so he would get the money he is looking for. It would look something like this:
2012-13 roster:
PG) Rondo, West(resign him for 2-3 years this off season)
SG) R.Allen(signed back for min, or close to it) ?
SF) Pierce, Green
PF) Aldridge, KG(signed back for min, or close to it)
C) Dwight Howard(I'm not saying were a lock to get him, but it seems like Ainge is committed to attracting him to Boston), ?