Is anyone still mad we traded KG and Pierce??

[feckless]

If the trade didn't happen, we're probably have 4th or 5th seed in the east with a 1st round exit, and get a 20-25th pick in the 2014 draft.

And after KG and Pierce retires lets say in 2015 or 2016, we would be stuck without anybody or any assets for the future.

I was really sad the trade happened, but a part of me knows that it was necessary if we want to be real contenders again.

  Real contenders? When 2018, 2020, realistically when?

Definitely not another 22 years.
Maybe 2 to 4 years, we'll be back as real contenders.

  2 to 4 years?  When has a team stripped itself and been real contenders in 2 to 4 years?

[SparzWizard]

If the trade didn't happen, we're probably have 4th or 5th seed in the east with a 1st round exit, and get a 20-25th pick in the 2014 draft.

And after KG and Pierce retires lets say in 2015 or 2016, we would be stuck without anybody or any assets for the future.

I was really sad the trade happened, but a part of me knows that it was necessary if we want to be real contenders again.

  Real contenders? When 2018, 2020, realistically when?

Definitely not another 22 years.
Maybe 2 to 4 years, we'll be back as real contenders.

Or if it does take another 20 years, I'm young enough to see another 20 years. *knock on wood.

So far it's been 6 years since our last championship...16 more years to go, I hope not!

[timobusa]

If the trade didn't happen, we're probably have 4th or 5th seed in the east with a 1st round exit, and get a 20-25th pick in the 2014 draft.

And after KG and Pierce retires lets say in 2015 or 2016, we would be stuck without anybody or any assets for the future.

I was really sad the trade happened, but a part of me knows that it was necessary if we want to be real contenders again.

  Real contenders? When 2018, 2020, realistically when?

Definitely not another 22 years.
Maybe 2 to 4 years, we'll be back as real contenders.

  2 to 4 years?  When has a team stripped itself and been real contenders in 2 to 4 years?

The Celtics.
After the 1976 title.
We got Bird in '79 we didn't win til 1981.
Then we were contenders for the decade. Then we kept Bird and Mchale and didn't trade them.
Fast Forward 22 years later we got KG Ray and PP.

So if anyone can do it. The Celtics can.

[feckless]

If the trade didn't happen, we're probably have 4th or 5th seed in the east with a 1st round exit, and get a 20-25th pick in the 2014 draft.

And after KG and Pierce retires lets say in 2015 or 2016, we would be stuck without anybody or any assets for the future.

I was really sad the trade happened, but a part of me knows that it was necessary if we want to be real contenders again.

  Real contenders? When 2018, 2020, realistically when?

Definitely not another 22 years.
Maybe 2 to 4 years, we'll be back as real contenders.

  2 to 4 years?  When has a team stripped itself and been real contenders in 2 to 4 years?

The Celtics.
After the 1976 title.
We got Bird in '79 we didn't win til 1981.
Then we were contenders for the decade. Then we kept Bird and Mchale and didn't trade them.
Fast Forward 22 years later we got KG Ray and PP.

So if anyone can do it. The Celtics can.

Fair enough but that was Red ripping Golden State off & getting Parrish and McHale for Joe Barry Carroll.

[freshinthehouse]

Nobody should be mad. We won that trade big time.

Will you feel differently if Brooklyn wins a couple playoff series?

I would hope that wouldn't faze anyone.  Do we strive for playoff wins or championships?  Making it to the ECF with a young team on the rise is good.  Making it with a team full of vets on their last legs is a sign that changes need to be made.

  Bill Russell would beg to differ with your comment about vets and he proved it his final year.  That is part of the Celtic lore that Danny flushed away.

To be fair that team had an in his prime Hondo.  This Celtics team has no player that can compare to that. 

[timobusa]

If the trade didn't happen, we're probably have 4th or 5th seed in the east with a 1st round exit, and get a 20-25th pick in the 2014 draft.

And after KG and Pierce retires lets say in 2015 or 2016, we would be stuck without anybody or any assets for the future.

I was really sad the trade happened, but a part of me knows that it was necessary if we want to be real contenders again.

  Real contenders? When 2018, 2020, realistically when?

Definitely not another 22 years.
Maybe 2 to 4 years, we'll be back as real contenders.

  2 to 4 years?  When has a team stripped itself and been real contenders in 2 to 4 years?

The Celtics.
After the 1976 title.
We got Bird in '79 we didn't win til 1981.
Then we were contenders for the decade. Then we kept Bird and Mchale and didn't trade them.
Fast Forward 22 years later we got KG Ray and PP.

So if anyone can do it. The Celtics can.

Fair enough but that was Red ripping Golden State off & getting Parrish and McHale for Joe Barry Carroll.

Ainge ripped Brooklyn of basically.
I guess were all just waiting to see what he does with his assets.
Patience is a virtue.

[Rhyso]

Good topic!

I was pretty mad at Danny when the trade happened, and if those picks we get from Brooklyn all turn out to be around the 20th pick I will be even more disappointed in Ainge.

Everyone talks like those picks we have are GOLD, but that's yet to be proven, and with an owner who will spend anything it's hard to believe he will let the team bottom out in a year they don't have a pick.

I still really think Danny did the wrong thing here by two Celtic legends. They both wanted to be here and contend, they gave everything in the playoffs and had a strong belief they could win it all with Doc and Rondo. We may never see a team in green with that same competitive spirit again, and I feel Danny took the old Celtics Championship or bust expression too far in my opinion. They deserved better.

[ACF]

Nope.

[2short]

I wasn't mad, I was sad.
Great trade for boston.  If the nets don't win this year a horrible trade for them AND this year is their only chance

[moiso]

We would be stuck in mediocrity if the trade wasn't made.  Ainge absolutely did the right thing and made out better than anyone could have expected.  The payoff will keep coming for several years in Nets draft picks and we will have a huge payoff this year in our own draft pick.

Yeah, the Nets are much better defensively when KG is on the court, but that's no surprise.  It's also not a huge deal when you consider that he's only able to play 20 minutes per game- probably a little more than Greg Oden will be playing in the latter playoff rounds.

Add in the fact that Pierce has become more inefficient on a team in which he should be able to have a smaller role, and I'm pretty happy that we don't have to see his and KG's declines for 82 games.  To me that would be far more painful than seeing them in another uniform.

[BudweiserCeltic]

The over simplification of a team lacking in talent and dealing with injuries to key players.

[BballTim]

When Rondo got injured last season, we were in the midst of a 6 game losing streak.  The team was 20-23.

Immediately following the injury, we won 7 in a row.  The team finished 1 game above .500 thanks to KG and Pierce.   Pierce, our only consistent scorer.  KG, a guy who remained one of the most dominant defensive players in the game.  Unfortunately, KG and Pierce alone weren't enough to deal with a 54 win Knicks team.  Unlikely we would have beat them with a healthy Rondo either.

This year, KG and Pierce are once again key contributors to a low-level playoff team hovering around .500.  Even as elderlies with a foot in retirement, they still remain winners.  KG remains a dominant defensive player:

When Garnett is on the floor, the Nets post a defensive rating of 101. When he is on the bench, the Nets defensive rating drops to 107, a drastic decrease in defensive efficiency.

Pierce remains an effective offensive weapon.  Putting up Per-36 stats of 16.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals, 43%/36%/84%.   

The Nets are the 6th seed team in spite of the fact Brook Lopez played a mere 17 games and Deron Williams has been an injured shadow of himself all season.


Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics are the 4th worst team in the entire league.  Prior to Rondo's return, the team had a 14-26 record (.350PCT)  ... We are 2-11 in games Rondo has played (.150PCT)...   Our only two victories coming against 17 win Orlando and 15 win Philly.   If we're looking to make a verdict from the early results... it appears that the fears of a Rondo-lead team playing themselves out of prime lotto position was completely overblown.   This team appears to be hot garbage without ancient hall of fame talent carrying them to mediocrity.

But we're getting worse to get better.  And long-term, this should turn out rather well for us.  Getting 3 picks for the vets and 1 pick for Doc was amazing return.  It does seem to me, though... this team COULD have been a playoff team this year. For you anti-tankers out there... is anyone still mad about the trade and what could have been with KG and Pierce having 1-2 more cracks at the playoffs together?

  If Rondo had been healthy in the 2013 playoffs we'd have beat the Knicks. We were fairly helpless on offense without him in the playoffs as many (including the Celts brass) predicted. Having Rondo play as well as he did in the 2012 playoffs masked the play of the other guys and really drove home the fact that even with a healthy Rondo the team wasn't going to contend in 2014. Good call by Ainge.

[Fred Roberts]

I love PP and even moreso, KG, but always understood the trade and consider it a major heist. I'm surprised Stern allowed it to happen, actually.

The Nets could become the Isaiah Thomas era Knicks in a couple years the way they're trying to build this team. Even if they are good, the trade works greatly in our favor.

I'm not giddy about the trade, but I might be depending how things go. KG and PP are studs but they (KG especially) are really on their last legs.

[Clench123]

Not at all.  It was necessary.  It was needed.  It was time.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I, a 50 plus year Celtic fan, am still quite angry.  Thought I would be over it by now, but it has not gone away.  I consider it an unCeltic like move, a great disrespect to Paul Pierce (more of a Celtic than Danny), I cancelled my league pass and still feel that the right thing for me to do is follow the Brooklyn Celtics until Danny Ainge is fired.

I do still love the Celticsblog.

Does anyone think Red Auerbach would have made the trade?

well then you might as well change your allegiance for good then because AInge is going nowhere.