The New Big 3?

While a press conference still has not been held, the deal is pretty much finalized. WEEI reported that Kevin Garnett's plane has landed in Boston. Paul Pierce is on his way to town as well. With this deal in place, the Celtics now may have a new Big 3 that could very well lead the team into the NBA finals this season.

As a Celtics fan, it's hard not to like a deal that improves us this much and more importantly makes the Boston Celtics relevant again. Steven A. Smith and Bill Simmons excited me even further last night, as their thoughts on the trade were very similar to mine. Both mentioned the types of players that comprise this trio. All have been in similar situations, carrying teams that appeared to be going nowhere. All are hungry for a championship. Must importantly, all are for the most part unselfish players who have put their team first and should be able to work together very well.

On the flip side, we have lost a lot, including great young talent like Jefferson, Green, and Gomes. However, Danny Ainge has stuck by his word that he was going to blow up the previous team, stockpile young assets, and pull off big deals to make us a contender. He has done this. Losing Jefferson hurts, and as much as we've seen him develop, he still isn't Kevin Garnett. Green has a lot of potential, but I think the Celtics marketing has done wonders in terms of us fans falling in love with these young guys who still haven't shown us a ton. I hate losing Gomes, but if it has to be done, it has to be done.

The Celtics main issue now is finalizing the roster, as the bench looks pretty thin after losing 5 players in the deal. We could still use a veteran point guard, probably another center, and maybe a backup swingman since Tony Allen is still coming off a pretty bad injury. For now though, I'll let the Garnett deal sink in and return in a day or two with thoughts on how we can complete this team and compete for number 17.

KG Back in the Mix

Reports came in late Sunday night indicated that the rumored deal that would send Kevin Garnett to the Celtics is back on. ESPN.com and Fox Sports are both reporting on the deal, with Fox Sports saying that the deal could be close to done, maybe even as early as in the next 48 hours. I'm not sure if they're jumping the gun, but this would be huge news for not only the Celtics but the entire league as well.

ESPN is reporting that the Celtics would be sending Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, and possibly Gerald Green and Telfair. Fox Sports, however, is saying that Jefferson and Ratliff would be packaged with Rondo. Regardless of how the deal may go down, there is going to have to be confirmation that Garnett won't opt out of the contract. A big factor also will be whether he actually wants to play in Boston. However, with the recent addition of Ray Allen, Garnett's feelings toward Boston may have changed.

The youth movement could be over if such a deal goes down, as the C's would be giving up a lot of young talent. However, a team with Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and KG would definitely be able to make some noise, especially in the weak Eastern Conference. We'll see how things play out.

Summer League Ends

The Celtics summer league ended on Saturday with a 91-70 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Glen Davis led the C's with 19 points and 14 boards. Gerald Green and Allan Ray both finished with 15 points. Despite an impressive performance from Davis though, the Celtics were not in top form and appeared over matched. Former Northeastern star Jose Juan Barea had an impressive performance at the point with 10 points and 11 assists. Barea appears to be a strong candidate for the backup point position in Dallas this year.

With this loss, the Celtics finish the summer league with a 3-2 record. The Celtics obviously have work to do before the season starts, but the summer league gave fans a taste of the future. Glen Davis, Leon Powe, and Brandon Wallace were all very impressive, and Allan Ray and Gabe Pruitt had a chance to show their skills as well. Perhaps the biggest disappointment was Gerald Green. Many expected him to steal the show, but Green struggled, particularly with his shooting. As I mentioned before, I'm not too worried about this and still feel he will have a strong season.

With the summer league over, the trade gossip will most likely resume as Danny Ainge and the C's look to add more pieces to the team. A deal for Sarunas Jasikevicius was rumored in the papers yesterday but no solid information is available. Jasikevicius could fit the role of a veteran point guard, which could be helpful to the team considered the youth at that position. In addition, his strong shooting would compliment Rondo who still lacks a consistent jump shot. I see the team pulling off a few deals like this rather than a big blockbuster deal, but with Ainge it's very hard to tell. Regardless of what happens, The Green Party will keep you updated.

C's Roll Past Bucks

(Celtics.com)

The Celtics got their third summer league win on Friday night, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 84-76. With Rondo out of the lineup, rookie Gabe Pruitt stepped up big, scoring 14 points and making the highlight reels with an impressive dunk. Brandon Wallace also had an impressive putback dunk, showing off the athleticism that Celtics management likes so much. Leon Powe continued his strong summer league with 11 points and 9 rebounds.

Overall, the game was a strong showing for the Celtics, with Allan Ray and Glen Davis also having good outings. The FSN crew mentioned earlier yesterday that Ray needed to step up in the summer league and his 14 points last night helped that cause. Disappointing though, is the summer league performance from Gerald Green. Expectations were high going into the league, as Gerald needs to show that he's worthy of playing some serious minutes in his 3rd NBA season. There is still much more work to be done before the season starts though, and I have faith that Gerald will come through and play a large role for the team.

Mike Gorman appeared on FSN yesterday before the game praising the signing of Brandon Wallace. While Wallace isn't putting up huge numbers in the summer league, Gorman put over Wallace's excellent defensive ability, stating that it's been a long time since the Celtics had a 6'9" defender.

With one game to go against Dallas today, the Celtics youth are showing that they can make quite an impact in the coming season.

Celtics Crush China

The Celtics beat China 80-52 on Wednesday. I didn't get a chance to watch this one, but it certainly was a blowout. Leon Powe had an impressive game with 23 points and 12 rebounds, continuing what has been a solid summer league performance. Yi Jianlian scored only 7 points and gathered up 5 boards. The Celtics play Milwauke tonight, and I should have a much better recap/analysis tomorrow.

C's come up short against Spurs; Sign Wallace

The Celtics lost in their second summer league game against the Spurs Monday, 61-53. Though the Spurs are the defending champions, their summer league crew is mostly rookies and journeymen battling for a spot on the best team in the NBA. The Celtics led most of the way, however in the end, The Spurs were able to pull it off after some costly turnovers by the C's. Jackie Butler finished with 16 points and 12 board for the Spurs, and was most definitely the player of the game. However, it is just summer league, and its also Jackie Butler. For the Celtics, Glen Davis made some noise inside with 12 points and 9 rebounds. He may be a little short, but he moves around well down low and knows how to score. He can really make an impact for the team this year.

The biggest story coming out of the game though was the signing of Forward Brandon Wallace. Wallace is an athletic, defensive-minded forward who went undrafted out of South Carolina. Though he didn't have the best game yesterday, the Celtics have been impressed by him enough to sign him to the team. Wallace may provide the Celtics with one of their biggest needs: Defense on the inside. However, just because this is his forte doesn't necessarily mean he's ready to make an impact in the NBA. Still, I like the signing and I'm very curious to see what he can do for us. He even got to show off his jump shot a couple times in the game which is always a plus.

Another player talked about much during the game was Allan Ray. He's not having the greatest summer league so far, but the commentators mentioned that he's most definitely an NBA player. I would agree with this statment, but I feel that there really isn't much room on the Celtics for him, with Ray Allen, Tony Allen, and Gerald Green all looking for minutes at the 2. Gerald can play the 3, but that still doesn't leave a lot of minutes for Ray. My hope is that he has a good summer league and thus can maybe be used in some type of trade. As Ainge had previously mentioned, he isn't done making trades. If Allan Ray shows that he's ready to play some serious NBA minutes, he could be a good fit for a team looking for some depth at the two. On the flipside, we could always look to trade Tony Allen and have Allan Ray back up Ray Allen. This might be too much for Tommy Heinsohn to handle though.

No matter what happens I think the Celtics will look to make some kind of deal, most likely for that defensive presence on the inside. While Brandon Wallace shows potential in that sense, he won't be ready to step up for a while and it seems the Celtics want to win some games soon. A player like Marcus Camby or Andrei Kirelenko would be a great fit, but I'm not sure what it will take to get this kind of deal to happen. I'm not a GM. Maybe Isaac Bearg over at Future GM Thoughts has some ideas as to what the C's should do (Shameless plug).

C's Win Opener

(Celtics.com)

The Celtics won their summer league opener Friday night beating the Portland Trailblazers 74-66. The game gave Celtics fans their first looks at draft picks Gabe Pruitt and Glen Davis. However, overshadowing their pro debuts was the debut of Greg Oden, the #1 overall pick, and a player that has been on the radar of Celtic fans for quite some time.

Though it was just a summer league game, it was entertaining nonetheless, with players like Gerald Green entertaining the crowd and Oden throwing down some vicious blocks. Despite this though, Oden finished with 10 fouls. Welcome to the NBA big guy.

For the C's, the game was all about Leon Powe. The 2nd year power foward out of Cal had a great game putting in 19 points and gathering up 9 rebounds. It's only summer league, but Powe showed that he's definitely capable of making an impact. The only question is how many minutes he gets next year with players like Davis and Ryan Gomes in the fold.

The Celtics play their next game today against San Antonio at 4 p.m. FSN will broadcast the game live and NBA.com is streaming. See you tomorrow for a recap.

Summer League Begins

(Celtics.com)

The summer league kicks off tonight for the C's, and while these games don't count for anything, The Green Party will still be providing coverage. Tonight, the Celtics take on Portland and Greg Oden. Here's the summer league roster thanks to Celtics.com:

Lance Allred (C) - Weber State
Pat Carroll (G/F) - St. Josephs
Glen Davis (F) - LSU
Torin Francis (F) - Notre Dame
Andreas Glyniadakis (C) - Greece
Gerald Green (G/F) - Gulf Shores AcademyEric Hicks (F) - Cincinnati
Leon Powe (F) - California
Gabe Pruitt (G) - USC
Allan Ray (G) - Villanova
Rajon Rondo (G) - Kentucky
Sergio Sanchez (G) - Spain
Brandon Wallace (F) - South Carolina

There should be some competition for a few roster spots, so a lot of these guys will be bringing their A game. I'm very curious to see what Torin Francis can do. At 6'11", he has the size, but the hype he once had has certainly died down.

Competition may have already begun at the point guard spot, according to a blog written by Spanish player Sergio Sanchez. While the translation is rough, it's funny nonetheless:

"Rondo was very nice the first day but later, when he asked me and I told him I played the point like him, he didnt say another word to me! I dont believe it is the competition that would lead to this but ok....I only intend on palying as well as I can and that is it. ..." (link)

The remaining schedule is as follows:
July 9 vs. San Antonio - 1:00
July 11 vs. Chinese National Team - 7:00
July 13 vs. Milwaukee - 5:00
July 14 vs. New York - 1:00

FSN will be broadcasting all the games live, as well as NBA.com which is streaming all the summer league action.