While I can’t claim to be an expert on the NBA along the lines of Bob Ryan or the folks at Ball Don’t Lie, I do happen to believe there are some signs blatantly obvious enough that even a hoops layman such as myself can see quite clearly. According to ESPN, the Celtics are interested in acquiring Michael Finley, who recently accepted a buyout from the San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Finley is in his fifteenth year, and according to the experts his production only started to dip this year (meaning, of course, that at the age of 37 his plummet to the depths of basketball hell will be quick and exceedingly painful to watch).
So why do I think this guy is the harbinger of doom for the Boston Celtics? Because if this is the best they can do to patch some holes heading into the playoffs, they don’t stand a doughnut’s chance in Glen Davis’ sight of making it past Cleveland or Orlando or Atlanta in the playoffs.
Realistically speaking, they didn’t have a chance before the trade deadline either, but Danny Ainge froze and decided to keep the band together for another year. See, this is why I’m not all that confident with this guy as the GM and firmly believe landing Garnett and the championship in 2007 was more luck than any kind of skill. Boston had one valuable piece to move and they couldn’t, or wouldn’t do it – meaning that Danny either felt he wasn’t getting good value in return for Ray Allen, or that he felt they still had a shot at a trophy with him on the team. It goes without saying that there was no way a top player was coming for Allen, but what about picks? What about something? If this guy is half the GM most folks have been praising him for since ‘07, he should’ve been able to land something. If he thought this team as presently constituted could make it through Cleveland and then Los Angeles in the Finals, he should be given a drug test immediately.
Which leaves Boston picking over scraps like Finley, Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, and other assorted spare parts from the Land Of Misfit Players. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned from fantasy sports, when you’re picking over scraps trying to squeeze blood out of stones like this, one of two things have happened… You’ve had an incredible run of back luck with injuries and underperforming players killing you game in and out; or, you didn’t prepare well for the draft and whiffed one too many times. In this case, the injury argument doesn’t work for me – the core of your team is past or in their late primes on the wrong side of 32, which means injuries aren’t just possible but inevitable. Looks to me like Danny didn’t do enough homework and is looking for any way to stop the bleeding. Sorry, but that strategy has never worked for me or any other fantasy owner out there, and I don’t see it saving the Celtics either.
