These Trade Rumors Just Get Worse and Worse

(Photo courtesy of Steve Neimand)

By: Greg Payne

Chad Ford of ESPN has posted an entire list of rumors potentially involving the Celtics. Unfortunately it's on lockdown on ESPN's "Insider" portion of their website. This must be the juicy stuff if not just any man can click over and read it. Here's the link, in case you happen to be an Insider and can actually access it.

Allow me to give you the basic lowdown on these rumors. Apparently, Danny Ainge loves this kid Tyreke Evans from Memphis and it seems as if that could be the base for all of these rumors involving us wanting to acquire a top 5 or 10 draft pick. Now, I'm at the point where I trust and believe in Danny, so if he says this kid is good, all I need is his word and I'm sold. But, if we need to give up Ray Allen in order to obtain him, how does that help us win a championship next year?

Then there's a rumor involving the Memphis Grizzlies that would send over Darko Milicic, Greg Buckner and Marko Jaric for Ray Allen. Then there's one involving the Kings that would give us the # 4 pick (and possibly Spencer Hawes or Jason Thompson) in exchange for Rondo. And finally, the Wizards enter the picture and for Allen again we would acquire (brace yourself!): Etan Thomas, Mike James, Darius Songalia and the # 4 pick!

These rumors get worse and worse as this offseason moves along. How many teams does Milicic need to fail on before we say, "You know, maybe he's just not meant for this league."? As for Bucker, would YOU want him as your backup point guard? Unless you run his exclusive fan club or website, your answer should be no. And the best part of Marko Jaric's game is his wife, Adriana Lima. So, can we knock that one off the table, please? How would those three help us win a title next year? Can someone answer that for me? Because I'm just not seeing it.

Picture ten seconds left against the Bulls in the second round next year..."Rondo drives right, gets past Rose, kicks it to the corner to...Marko Jaric! He's all alone (shocker!)! He shoots! No good, and the Celtics fall to the Chicago Bulls!"

As for that Kings rumor, why would you ever give up Rondo, first of all, and second, why would the Celtics bring in Hawes or Thompson when it appears they have every intention of signing Glen Davis and Leon Powe, while still obviously retaining Kendrick Perkins? This is NOT your answer for a backup big man.

You see, Rondo is now at that point where if you trade him, you are trading him for proven talent, not potential. The only way you trade Rondo is if you're getting someone like Chris Paul in return, because after every person on the team claims that Rondo is the singular force driving the team's offense, you start to listen. Why give up such an important piece for players with "potential"? Gerald Green had (and still has, in this writer's humble opinion) potential. So did Kedrick Brown and Tony Allen.

And then we come to the Wizards. Yes, let's please re-acquire James, because that worked out so well the FIRST time we tried it. That inside bruiser Thomas, who appears to lack any significant basketball skill, can clearly knock down three-pointers with the best of them in the league, so I can totally see how he would compliment and complete our new Big Three. Throw in Songalia and that fourth pick and this is a doozy of a trade. Yes, please, throw away our playoff hopes next season with this one. Please, do it sooner, rather than later. Kill us quickly...don't drag it out and leave us in agony.

As you can probably tell, these rumors are starting to bother me. Maybe the Celtics just want KG to back out on the guarantee that he made a week or two ago. Because, if any of these trades actually went through, that's exactly what Garnett would have to do. Because if any of these trades were to happen, you can kiss our title hopes goodbye for the rest of this "big three" era.

While I certainly respect the opinions of a man like Ford and the work he does over there at the four big letters, I would actually rather listen to our head coach (Call me crazy) in terms of potential trades. And I'm lucky, because Doc Rivers actually just addressed such a topic on Pardon the Interruption this past Thursday:

No I don’t, but we’ve got a huge trade we’re going to announce. I’m just joking. There’s no trade coming. (Laughs) No, no we’re good. I like who we are. I think we do have to add some length to our basketball team as well, especially with Leon Powe maybe not coming back for at least til midseason or later. We’ve got to add one more big to our team. Other than that, I love our basketball team, I love our guys, and I think we’ll be in great shape next year.

Maybe I should start some sort of movement or petition for us not to trade away Allen, because his name just keeps on popping up in all of this trade talk.

But in my eyes, it is this simple: Dear Sacramento: Keep your guys. Dear Memphis: Keep your guys. Dear Washington: Keep your guys. Dear Mr. Larry O'Brien: I want your trophy. My team CURRENTLY possesses the guys needed to claim it. So in five months, start watching your back. Because we'll be coming for you. With Ray Allen in tow.

Stay Tuned.