Now that a forward who shall remain nameless has been traded to the New York Knicks, teams are free to start making all the ancillary moves they've been waiting to make. Most of these deals will be relatively minor and will fill holes in rosters… much like the Celtics are trying to do.
But just like free agency, there is always a move somewhere that can throw the whole system out of whack because it sets the bar at what guys are worth. The Bulls and Raptors have just completed a trade that just might be enough to price the C's out of any real help at the back up 3 spot.
James Johnson, a seldom used Bulls forward who, in his second year, is posting career averages of 3.8 points and 1.9 rebounds per game, was traded to Toronto for a…. FIRST ROUND PICK. Granted, it's actually the Miami Heat's pick… which will make it a very low one… and this draft is considered to be a fairly weak one… but it's still a first round pick for a player who hasn't done squat.
The Celtics, as we've stated, don't have much to offer teams in a trade. Nate Robinson is a fun player and he can be good in stretches, but he's not the most consistent guy around. Jermaine O'Neal has another year left on his deal and you'll be lucky to get 30 games out of him at this point. The C's can try to sweeten a deal with Avery Bradley, who is a young, promising, defensive-minded talent… something you don't find very often.
But if James Johnson is going for a first rounder, then what will Anthony Parker's price be? Or Rasual Butler's? Or Jamario Moon's?
I haven't been holding my breath for anything to happen anyway for the reasons I just stated. But I still held on to a little big of a "In Danny We Trust" hope that he could make SOMETHING work. I can only imagine he did a comical spit-take after seeing this James Johnson trade cross the transaction wires… followed by a string of curses that would make KG blush. I know I would, because that might have just priced the Celtics out of this trade market.
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