McHale discusses the rumor of gifting the C's KG

[sed522002]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/11/kevin_mchale_reflects_on_t_wolves_dramas

Timberwolves ownership believed the chance to be successful with Garnett had passed, and it wasn’t interested in paying him huge money again. So the call was made from up above to go in a different direction, and McHale, after checking around the league, sent KG to the Celtics for Jefferson, Gerald Green, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff and two first-round picks.

It didn’t take long to sift through the marketplace.

“The two offers were (Lakers center) Andrew Bynum, and I was afraid of his knees, and Big Al — and then some draft choices and other throw-ins and stuff like that,” McHale said. “I liked Andrew Bynum as a player. I liked Al, because he was a better scorer, but when you looked at Bynum, I was just so afraid of his knees and all the stuff that goes with that.

“I know what people say about me and Danny, but if you look at what the Celtics (offered), Al and the picks, it was the best of the offers that were out there. I was actually surprised in one way, because there weren’t many teams we could deal with.”

That factor came into play last year when the Celts traded Paul Pierce and Garnett to Brooklyn in what ended up being a limited market. But in ’07, it caught McHale a bit off-guard.

“When I knew we were going to trade Kevin, of course, you call everybody, but so many teams were in different spots,” McHale said. “Well over 20 of the teams just said, ‘He’s not going to re-sign here. We won’t be able to keep him.’ Some teams didn’t have the assets, and some teams were just in a different spot, like, ‘We’re too young to take the guy.’

“So you only had four or five teams that actually fit the parameters of, ‘OK, we’re good enough, so we’re going to try to make a deal for the guy.’ Danny had gotten Ray Allen, and he needed another piece. The Lakers had Kobe (Bryant) and that whole group, so they had pieces. But it was pretty amazing how everything dried up, and all of a sudden you’re down to just a few teams.

[get_banners]

Our package for KG was, by far, the best offered. Quite frankly, it was a pretty great package, too. It didn't all pan out (as is the risk in trading for young players), but they got a 20/10 young guy, a guy who had the potential to be a big time scorer (and Green has actually now become a decent player - tons of talent), a bunch of picks, a nice expiring contract, and some solid role players who didn't make big money. That's a very good return for KG. Almost none of it worked out (Big Al's knee injury made things worse), but it was hardly a bad deal.

[Snakehead]

Our package for KG was, by far, the best offered. Quite frankly, it was a pretty great package, too. It didn't all pan out (as is the risk in trading for young players), but they got a 20/10 young guy, a guy who had the potential to be a big time scorer (and Green has actually now become a decent player - tons of talent), a bunch of picks, a nice expiring contract, and some solid role players who didn't make big money. That's a very good return for KG. Almost none of it worked out (Big Al's knee injury made things worse), but it was hardly a bad deal.

Plus Bynum was an elite C for a few years there but his knees were an issue and he didn't last.  The Lakers were a good situation with a mature team that could capitalize on his short career but I don't see how the Timberwolves could have, even if he was the best or second best C in the league for a few years as I think he was.

[footey]

In retrospect, it was by far the best deal. Who would you rather have now, Big Al or Bynum?

[Vermont Green]

It is interesting that the article started with the statement that:

So the call was made from up above to go in a different direction

That right there already takes McHale off the hook in my mind. Then he explained that dynamics of trying to constitute a trade for a high profile player.  I think Flip Sanders did better in the trade for Love.  He waited and additional opportunities opened up that didn't even existing earlier in the process (LeBron to Cle created an opportunity).  The only criticism could be to speculate that if McHale had waited, other things might have opened up but that would be just that, speculation.

Now compare this to the Celtics current situation with Rondo.  I think even the most ardent Rondo advocates would agree that KG at that time was a more valuable asset than Rondo right now.  So if it was hard to create a market or create competition for KG trades, it is certainly going to be even harder to get a trade for Rondo where it feels like you got really good value.

So looking back, it is hard to say that Minny got equal value for KG but what if KG had just walked at the end of the year anyway.  At least they had a promising big man and a few draft picks to show for it (it seems McHale considered all the rest to be filler).  That is the context that I think Rondo trades should be put in.  If we get a promising young player and a couple of medium grade draft picks, people would like jump all over that and say Rondo is way better than that, etc., etc.

I think Boston seriously miscalculated when they decided to go after Kevin Love in the off season instead of trying to trade Rondo.  If they had gotten Love, that would have been great but the bottom line is they didn't and now they have missed a valuable window of opportunity to create a more competitive market for Rondo.  We will see if the trade deadline turns out to be a second chance or not.  And of course they might be able resign Rondo.  We will see.

[gpap]

In retrospect, it was by far the best deal. Who would you rather have now, Big Al or Bynum?

It's a good point.

Big Al was a pretty attractive trade chip (IMO.)

Also, I think if Bynum was traded to a crappy team like the Wolves, he would've no-showed, gotten "injured" playing bowling and throwing the basketball at the heads of teammates in practice.

[Celtics18]

It is interesting that the article started with the statement that:

So the call was made from up above to go in a different direction

That right there already takes McHale off the hook in my mind. Then he explained that dynamics of trying to constitute a trade for a high profile player.  I think Flip Sanders did better in the trade for Love.  He waited and additional opportunities opened up that didn't even existing earlier in the process (LeBron to Cle created an opportunity).  The only criticism could be to speculate that if McHale had waited, other things might have opened up but that would be just that, speculation.

Now compare this to the Celtics current situation with Rondo.  I think even the most ardent Rondo advocates would agree that KG at that time was a more valuable asset than Rondo right now.  So if it was hard to create a market or create competition for KG trades, it is certainly going to be even harder to get a trade for Rondo where it feels like you got really good value.

So looking back, it is hard to say that Minny got equal value for KG but what if KG had just walked at the end of the year anyway.  At least they had a promising big man and a few draft picks to show for it (it seems McHale considered all the rest to be filler).  That is the context that I think Rondo trades should be put in.  If we get a promising young player and a couple of medium grade draft picks, people would like jump all over that and say Rondo is way better than that, etc., etc.

I think Boston seriously miscalculated when they decided to go after Kevin Love in the off season instead of trying to trade Rondo.  If they had gotten Love, that would have been great but the bottom line is they didn't and now they have missed a valuable window of opportunity to create a more competitive market for Rondo.  We will see if the trade deadline turns out to be a second chance or not.  And of course they might be able resign Rondo.  We will see.

It seems to me that the Garnett trade should serve as a serious caveat against trading Rondo.  I agree that the T-Wolves got a decent haul for Garnett, but look where it ultimately put them.  They haven't made the playoffs since they made that trade. 

It's not likely that they would have been able to put a contender around Garnett, but chances are higher that if they'd kept him and tried to put some adequate pieces around him, that they could have managed to make a couple of more decent playoff runs. 

I remain convinced that keeping Rondo and trying to add pieces that fit is a safer bet for getting back into contention sooner than trading him away for picks and prospects.

I am, of course, aware that either direction Danny takes is a long shot.  This is why I don't subscribe to the "championship or nothing" mantra that many Celtics fans like to chant.  Basically, I'd rather be a team that made the playoffs annually, but couldn't win the whole thing than be a team that was perpetually at the bottom.

Yes, championships are the ultimate goal, but you have to have a competitive team to even give yourself a shot. 

The "all eggs in the draft basket" approach has shown not to yield very good results.  Heck, even the Thunder (the one team always touted as the shining example for that approach) has yet to win a title, and there's no guarantee that they will.   

[BballTim]

It is interesting that the article started with the statement that:

So the call was made from up above to go in a different direction

That right there already takes McHale off the hook in my mind. Then he explained that dynamics of trying to constitute a trade for a high profile player.  I think Flip Sanders did better in the trade for Love.  He waited and additional opportunities opened up that didn't even existing earlier in the process (LeBron to Cle created an opportunity).  The only criticism could be to speculate that if McHale had waited, other things might have opened up but that would be just that, speculation.

  McHale waited until basically the same point in the process though. It wasn't a pre-draft deal, and I don't think any superstars switched teams after the deal. Flip was probably looking at a worse market than McHale was aside from Cleveland winning the lottery and getting LeBron. If either of those things fail to happen nobody would be singing Flip's praises now.

Now compare this to the Celtics current situation with Rondo.  I think even the most ardent Rondo advocates would agree that KG at that time was a more valuable asset than Rondo right now.  So if it was hard to create a market or create competition for KG trades, it is certainly going to be even harder to get a trade for Rondo where it feels like you got really good value.

  Which is basically what I've been saying all along. Teams generally don't trade star players unless they have no other decent options because the returns are never great and the teams are usually worse off having made the trades.

[fairweatherfan]

Our package for KG was, by far, the best offered. Quite frankly, it was a pretty great package, too. It didn't all pan out (as is the risk in trading for young players), but they got a 20/10 young guy, a guy who had the potential to be a big time scorer (and Green has actually now become a decent player - tons of talent), a bunch of picks, a nice expiring contract, and some solid role players who didn't make big money. That's a very good return for KG. Almost none of it worked out (Big Al's knee injury made things worse), but it was hardly a bad deal.

And remember one of those picks was Minnesota's own 2009 pick which we'd gotten in a prior deal.  Of course, they promptly blew it on Jonny Flynn, but had they been smarter that would've been Stephen Curry or DeMar DeRozan and the trade would look very, very different from their end.

[LooseCannon]

McHale reportedly wanted Rondo and settled for Telfair.  What would have happened if the T-Wolves had held out for Rondo with the same stubbornness that Flip Saunders seemed to have in dealing Kevin Love?