|
|
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Chad Ford Tribute
 Say what you want about Chad Ford, but he worked his butt off providing near-daily updates on the movings and shakings around the league. For that alone, I'll miss him. Still, one thing I never quite got were his "Fixing the Celtics" (or whatever team) articles. The ones where he proposes 3 or 4 radical trades to overhaul a particular roster. I have to give him credit for trying, but it was just so easy to nit pick his ideas and question his sanity over each proposed trade or transaction. Still, it always entertained in the sense that it got people talking. So in tribute to Professor Chad, I'll make up my own Fixing the Celtics piece and open myself up to scorn, abuse, and mockery. Enjoy.
Lets see, these always start out with a generalization of all the problems the team has. The Celtics are torn between a youth movement and win-now vets with contract issues. They also have some attitudes that need adjusting or relocating. Great! Lets blow everything up.
Step 1: Trade Paul Pierce to the highest bidder. How about Paul and Blount for Shawn Marion and Howard Eisley (expiring contract)? Shawn is an all star return for Paul and Blount leaves town. Pheonix gets a shorter contract which will help pay for Amare's salary when he reups. They also get a center who can score from the elbows. Then you can flip Eisley's contract and Banks to Memphis for Lorenzen Wright (who has asked for a trade).
Step 2: Drop Raef's salary. What about Ricky Davis and Raef for Wally Szczerbiak and Sam Cassell? Wally can score and Sam can fill in at point for a year. The T-Wolves get some inside help for a little less than Wally's salary and repace his shooting with Ricky.
Step 3: Sign-and-trade Walker. Walker and Payton sign-and-trade to Seattle for Vlad Radmanovic and Robert Swift. This one is a Chad Ford original, so I'll let it speak for itself.
New C's lineup:
1. Cassell, West, Greene
2. Wally, Allen, Reed
3. Marion, Gomes, Green
4. Vlad, Jefferson, Veal
5. Wright, Perkins, Swift
This gives a solid, contending team for the present without sacrificing the future core. Wally, Marion, and Vlad eat up some cap space for years to come, but they are bound to be better long term solutions than Raef, Blount, and Walker. Cassell and Wight are both in the last years of their deals so they provide some flexibility.
So there it is. I've stepped up to the plate and put my ideas out there, knowing full well the kind of abuse I'm setting myself up for. I'm sure there will be cries of travishamockery and sneers of superiority, but I gave it my best shot, and that's all I can do. Oh yeah, and I'm reasonably sure that if someone researched this enough, they would find something wrong with my rationale and prove it all to be impossible. But that's why fiction is fun.
Take care Chad.
Oh and ESPN, bring back David Aldridge.
|
| This Web site is a Boston Celtics
fan site and is not affiliated with the Boston Celtics or the National
Basketball Association. This is not an official news source and, as
such, information on this site should not be considered as fact. More
specifically: I'm only kidding, so don't sue me. All content on this
site, excepting that which has been attributed from another source,
are copyright © 2004 CelticsBlog.com. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
