Celtics, Please Don’t Trade For Kevin Garnett

If you’re a Celtics fan, you’ve probably heard the trade rumors for Kevin Garnett.  Supposedly, a deal has been made with the Celtics or the Suns, and it’s rumored to include Celtic’s forward/center Al Jefferson.  A possible scenario is:Al Jefferson + Wally Szczerbiak + Theo Ratliff + Sebastian Telfair + 5th overall <–> Kevin Garnett + Troy Hudson

When I see this, I almost want to puke.  The Celtics are getting rid of almost every tradeable asset they have (especially if Gerald Green is thrown into the package) and get a 31 year old star who is on the tail-end of his prime.  In the process, they are giving up Al Jefferson, the best young low post scorer in the league, who is nearly 10 years young than Kevin Garnett, but is only a points and a couple rebounds behind.  In my opinion, Al Jefferson is the best back to the basket player to come to the NBA, since Tim Duncan in 1997.  Celtics fans can moan that they didn’t get Greg Oden, and if Danny Ainge gives up Big Al, the fans better moan about that too.

What makes the whole trade scenario even scarier, is that Garnett can opt out of the contract next season.  And if he doesn’t, the Celtics will be paying him a combined $46 million.  Big Al will only chew up four million over the next two seasons.

If you put it in perspective, would you rather have the Celtics get Garnett, maybe compete in the East for three years, get crushed by the West, and be exposed to a terrible team with no one to build around in 5 years, or would you rather have a team that could compete with the West (if you drafted someone like Corey Brewer, Yi Jianlian, Al Horford, or Spencer Hawes) in 2 – 3 years.

Say Al Jefferson retires when he’s 40, as a Celtic.  He would have enjoyed 20+ years with us, and at that time, Kevin Garnett would be 49 going on 50.  Hmm… which would I prefer?

 **I know I’m not officially starting the blog yet, but I thought I’d get this out there.