Wait just a second BPD. Don't lock it up. If anything, send it to the Fantasy Forum. I'd like to entertain this for one second. After all, it is the summer and we have nothing better to do.
Okay, just to entertain this, here's something that could happen:
With Pierce, Garnett, and Jet gone, the Celtics are in full-blown rebuild mode. They made sure they salvaged a youngster with upside like Avery Bradley. He's young, a defensive talent, and cheap. These are the type of players and contracts they're looking to take on if they indeed trade Rondo. The only problem is making the salaries match. That being said, we could offer them Amare and ... wait for it... Shump along with a future first rounder for Rajon Rondo, Jeff Green, and Courtney Lee.
Why would Boston do it? Because this move sheds three large salaries for them. Meanwhile, they can use their amnesty provision on Amare. Theoretically, it's the equivalent of having three amnesty provisions. And on top of it, they get a stud in Shumpert plus a future first round draft pick. Add Shumpert and our first round draft pick to Marshon Brooks and the Nets' 3 first round draft picks (2 of which are unprotected) as well as all of their own draft picks, and the Celtics have successfully set themselves up for a nice rebuild in a matter of days. Now, it's just a matter of them developing Shump & Marshon as well as doing their homework and drafting well. All the components are there. If you're in full-blown rebuild mode, this is a viable route as Rondo is 27, Green will be 27 in August, and Lee will be 28 in October. No, they're not old, but clearly in the prime of their careers and are probably not interested in a rebuild. Plus, word on the street is that Rondo can be hard to deal with anyway.
Why would the Knicks do it? Because you finally get out of Amare's contract after wasting our amnesty on Billups (whom we gave an extension a few months before burning our amnesty on him)... still fuming over that. Plus, we get Rondo in the process!!! Rondo is a top 3 pg in my opinion. The additions of Green and Lee are simply icing on the cake and helps take away the pain of losing Shump. I love what Shump brings to the court, but we 1. get out of Amare's deal; 2. get a top 3 pg finally; and 3. get a stretch pf in Green that can defend and knock down a shot from the perimeter.
Here's what our core would look like:
PG - Rajon Rondo
SG - Raymond Feltton / Courtney Lee
SF - Carmelo Anthony
PF - Jeff Green
C - Tyson Chandler
Since Woody seems married to the idea of a 2-pg lineup, I think Rondo/Felton would work beautifully as a back court tandem. And since Woody loves playing Mello at the 4, we may as well bring in a stretch 4 that can actually defend opposing 4's and also spread the floor with his shooting on offense. This way, the distinction between sf and pf becomes less important and Woody can effectively run his system.
At this point, we just need some good solid vet. min. guys. I don't know what the future holds for us with J.R., Copeland, Pablo, and Kmart. I prefer to bring them all back, but that's probably not likely. Just for argument's sake, if we strike out with all of them (not likely), we could just go after vets like Brand, Jamison, Odom, etc. I know they are well past their primes, but they can all be very useful off the bench in reserve roles while playing reserve minutes. Also, I'd try to lure Nate by offering him our taxpayers MLE.
Now roast me folks.
