Boston is an ACL, a broken ankle, or a sore foot away from this becoming the worst trade in Celtic history. The NBA season is so long, that players get tired; and tired players get injured. Just think about how many key NBA players went down with injuries last year alone. And with so much of the salary cap invested in Boston’s Big 3, a major injury to any one of these players ruins Boston’s chances for the better part of a decade. In addition, unlike the other NBA teams with 3 all-stars, the Celtics are missing an all-star who happens to be a point guard. Rajon Rondo? He will easily find himself sitting on the bench with foul trouble when he matches up against the likes of Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, or Gilbert Arenas etc. The Celtics now, are essentially the Suns without Nash, the Spurs without Parker, and the Warriors without Baron – except they can’t even afford competent bench players. The game essentially becomes 5 on 3. And the last time KG was a member of a ‘Big 3’ was the 03-04 season with the T’Wolves: Sam Cassell 16.6 PPG, Latrell Sprewell 19.9 PPG, and Kevin Garnett 24.3 PPG. That team was bounced out of the playoffs by the Lakers; they had a competent backup point guard in Troy Hudson and were far deeper as a team than the Celtics are now.

And now, Minnesota. The Western Conference is so deep that the T’Wolves will fortunately/unfortunately pile up the losses and be back in the lottery for the next few years. From there, they can easily build around their core with their own picks and the 1st round picks they received from Boston. They will also be far below the salary cap and can later add the veteran experience their young core will be lacking. You can’t say that about Boston; no 1st round picks, no salary cap space to afford 1st round picks, much less a veteran free agent. The T’Wolves in 2 years could look like PG – Foye, Telfair; SG – 1st Rnd Pick, Green, McCants; SF – Brewer, Gomes; PF – Jefferson, 1st Rnd Pick, C – 1st Rnd Pick, Blount; another 1st Rnd Pick, at least two 2nd Rnd Picks, and plenty of cap space.

If I were the owner of the T’Wolves, my next moves would be: 1. Trade Kevin McHale to the Celtics for some more future draft picks and 2. Bring in Don Nelson as GM and give him free reign. They’ll have a championship in 3-4 years and who knows how many after that.

Marcus, I can’t help but wonder what would’ve been if we had kept the nucleus of the 01-02 Warriors squad intact. Arenas, Hughes, Jamison, Richardson. Granted, NBA history would have to be altered severely, but can you imagine those four playing under Nellie??

Is there any goal more important that winning and NBA championship? Sure, maybe the owners will go with making money hand-over-fist, but we’re not in that club, we’re just fans here. For us, the goal is to win it all.

Boston now has as good a chance as any team in the Eastern Conference to win an NBA championship in the next three years and possibly, with some luck, even longer.

Minnesota…not so much. The promise of rebuilding is acknowledgement from the current management that they were unable to put together a winning team and have opted to “invest” in younger and future (draft picks) stocks. Would you bet the farm that Taylor and McHale are going to get it right over the next few years? Me neither.

Jefferson is a stud low post scorer in the making, but he’s a Zach Randolph type. A definite plus, but not a defensive presence nor an all star. Close…but not quite. Veterans Davis, Howard and Trenton Hassel aren’t exactly that high on the intimidation ladder either. They’ll work for now, but you aren’t building a power house using them as the foundation.

Foye and Brewer have more of the winner’s attitude and eventually should make the Timberwolves a tough opponent. Eventually as in maybe. In a well rounded team, Green is the perfect sixth man at the wing. Athletic enough to dominate the opposing teams bench, but he doesn’t have the basketball IQ to be a long term starter. Gnomes and Smith should be solid contributors off the bench eventually as well. Overall the T-wolves are a team that MIGHT be tough, but I just don’t see them challenging for a playoff spot anytime soon.

So the real hope is the high draft picks they picked up and that they’ll inevitably “fail” into. Just ask a fan in Boston what is was like hoping for a big splash in the draft over the last twelve years. The odds don’t favor draft picks as a sure thing. Not to mention, all of this doesn’t exactly sell out arenas. The big time loser is Taylor and the Timberwolves fans.

Boston on the other hand is sitting pretty. Like you mentioned, Rondo is an underrated talent that will blossom with the three headed all-star roster. Perkins, while a stiff, will be more than enough at center in the Leastern Conference. Besides, with his girth, all he has to do is put a body on guys. He’ll now have KG coming over on the weak side. His job just got a lot easier.

All Ainge has to do now is built a bench to add to the young guys he already has. Despite the weather and legendary frosty “racial” attitude of the city, Boston just became a top choice for the remaining free agents. Ainge should be able to pick up a PF like PJ Brown or Chris Webber, a back up point like Brevin Knight, Charlie Bell or Hudson and possibly a wing like Eddie Jones, Posey or Pietrus and viola, instant Championship Contender. Guys like PJ are going to jump at the chance to be on a winner with a slugger’s chance at a championship.

As an added bonus, the Celtics just became relevant again. Count of seeing hoards of old dusty Celtics gear getting put back into rotation. Old guys everywhere will be flaunting their Celtic pride and talking trash about their prospects for championship # 17. Even worse will be the inexplicable explosion of new school Celtics fans sporting newly minted Garnett and Allen jerseys like black republicans at a rally for Bush. Further rubbing it in, the Celtics just became instant sell outs every time they go on the road. Despite the luxury tax hit, Owner Wycliffe Grousbeck will be swimming in the green.

Finally, I do acknowledge that championship basketball teams usually need at least a year to get their act together. I don’t think Boston is the exception, but they’re already at minimum the fourth best team in the East and they haven’t even filled out their bench yet. I guess we’ll have to see if they can pull off the ultimate confirmation by winning an NBA title (god, I hope not, I still HATE Boston). The only way the Timberwolves “win” this trade is if some time over the next ten years they go farther in the playoff toward a championship than Boston does with the talent and/or picks they both got from this trade. Anyone care to bet a month’s paycheck on that bet? I didn’t think so.

Boston wins this one by a landslide.