It was an interesting last couple of days in Boston sports with the Red Sox getting Gagne and the Celtics making the deal for Garnett. This was a huge move for the Celtics because it immediately made them a contender, but the question that keeps crossing my mind is “At what cost?” Don’t get me wrong, KG is a great player, but neither he nor Pierce nor Ray Allen are spring chickens. These guys are good, but are on the downswing of their careers given their ages of 30+.
The irony is that the Celts were scorned for being too young and inexperienced. Clearly this trade changes all of that now that they have three all stars. The issue though is that to get KG they basically had to give away all of their best young talent. Thus ironically, it looks to me like they went from a team that was too you and inexperienced to a team that is too old and shallow. Their issue is no longer the lack of experience or talent, but rather depth of the bench. Outside of Pierce, Allen and Garnett, there are few proven players.
This could be a major issue. What if one of the 3 experienced guys gets injured or even worse if two get injured? There is very little to behind them to shoulder the burden. The net result is that the trade certainly created a compelling combination of talent, but the Celtics are now painfully shallow with a limited amount of proven talent to support the big 3. This may not be an issue if the three can remain helpful and I certainly hope they do.