Trades, trades, trades.....you sho' look good tonight
Celtics going to the playoffs....
If the Celtics would have stayed pat with their trade last month for Ray Allen, I would not have liked the trade because I didn't think that team would have been able to go further than the first round of the playoffs. However, now with this proposed trade for Garnett, the Celtics have the ability to probably go to the NBA Finals. I, as a Knick fan, always took solace in the fact that the Celtics sucked. "Ok, we're not going to the Finals this year or next, but check out the Celtics." Now? This sucks again.
The Celtics and Ainge decided to go for it all these next coming 2 to 3 years. This version of the Celtics is kind of reminiscent of the Rockets team that featured Hakeem, Barkley and Pippen. Except these Celtics are younger. However, those 3 guys will have to play the lions share of minutes throughout the season. I do think that they have a little more depth than I originally thought. Skip Bayless, who I still don't know how he got this job he has, thinks that the Celtics are only the fourth best team in the East. He's an idiot. Looking over their roster I think that they're only really missing depth at the 3. They still have Kendrick Perkins who I thought made some decent strides last year as an inside presence ho ever, I think that they are missing depth at the 3. I like their drafting of Gabe Pruitt, but I don't see him producing soon. I do think that Glen "Big Baby" Davis will produce at the NBA level. He's got great footwork and while he isn't explosive, he is similar to Curry in that he is nimble for his size. I think this puts the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. People will get to see just how good Paul Pierce is again. I think people forgot that this guy is an assassin on the court. he never gives up, scores in bunches and is a clutch scorer. Now you put that together with Garnett in the post and either of them kicking it out to Allen? Pierce was killin' 'em with 'Toine out on the wing, now with Allen? It's going to be a long day for opposing defenses. We will be in for some entertaining basketball next Spring and Summer in the Eastern Conference.
The Mets got better...
Omar Minaya pulled off a nice trade for the Mets' stretch run. Luis Castillo is a very good, professional hitter. While he may not walk a lot or steal as many bases anymore, he gives the Mets another switch hitter at the top of hte lineup. He stole 25 bases last year but he had a lingering quadriceps injury in May that may explain his dip in stolen bases so far this year. While Castillo doesn't draw a lot of walks, he is a consistent .300 hitter who also has a great glove. He broke ryne Sandberg's 123 consecutive games without an error. Castillo has lost a step going to his left, but considering how much range he did have, he still covers a lot of ground. To get Castillo the Mets only had to give up one single A prospect in OF Dustin Martin and one Double A prospect in catcher Drew Butera. Martin has a lot of speed and decent power but strikes out a lot while Butera hit .258 in single A last year, his first in professional baseball, and was hitting .188 this year. Butera does however have a strong game behind the plate. Overall, I think the Mets got over on the Twins which is good considering the Braves just got Mark Texeira....
Here come the Braves...
The Braves finally pulled off the deal for Mark Texeira. I thought they may have given up too much for him, but they definitely got better this season and next. The Braves trail the Mets by 4.5 games and while they could use more pitching help, Teixeira definitely makes them better, especially if this takes some pressure off of Andruw Jones. The Braves had to give up 3 very good prospects along with promising rookie catcher Jarrod Saltamacchia who looks like he's going to be good, productive player for years to come. Thankfully for the Braves, Teixeira is signed through next year so at least they'll be able to hold onto him for that long. Atlanta is taking a big risk but they obviously think the Mets are catchable or else they wouldn't have given up so much to get Teixeira. As long as Smoltz stays healthy, the Mets have finally met a team that has a comparable lineup top the Mets in terms of length and explosiveness, especially now with word that Carlos Beltran will probably going on the disabled list with a strained oblique.