The Celtics' Good Trade

The Celtics traded Wally Szczerbiak, Delonte West, and the 5th pick (Jeff Green from Georgetown) to the Sonics for Ray Allen. Reaction to the trade in the national press has been mixed (In general, ESPN's take seems to be that Seattle got the better end of the trade, as seen here, here, and here, while CNN's take seems to be more favorable towards the Celtics, as seen here, here, and here).

Count me in the camp that thinks this was a great trade for Boston, and a bizarre one for Seattle. Boston will run out a starting line-up of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo, and Kendrick Perkins. Don't be surprised if Pierce, Allen, and Jefferson are all all-stars this coming season. The frontcourt lacks depth (I'm not a big Leon Powe or Ryan Gomes fan), but the depth at the swing positions (Gerald Green, Tony Allen) is impressive. And, quite frankly, the Celtics didn't give up that much--Wally has been hurt throughout his time in Boston, West has been okay but was going to continue to lose playing time to Rondo this year, and the fifth pick in the draft was going to be a complete crapshoot.

As for Seattle, I don't really understand what they're doing. They now have three players who play small forward (Durant, Green, and Wally), and they'll have four if they re-sign Rashard Lewis. I guess Durant or Lewis can play the "four" defensively (they're both 6'10", although a bit skinny), but I don't think anyone from that group can guard any of the shooting guards in the NBA. Sam Presti (the Sonics GM) has made some noise about wanting versatile players who can play multiple positions, so maybe he has some schemes that'll make this collection of players work. In any event, Durant's only 18 years old, so Seattle has some time to figure out what type of talent to put around him.