Nate Robinson to The Celtics: Why He's Worth Eddie House

This article is also featured on Beantown Sports Observer

The Boston Celtics announced today that they traded Eddie House, Bill Walker and JR Giddens to the New York Knicks for Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry.

Last week, Robinson became the first three-time winner of the Slam Dunk Contest. So we have a minor celebrity coming to Boston.

I've always liked Eddie House. He seemed to be the under-the-radar bench leader, and was infinitely clutch down the stretch for the Celtics during the 2007-2008 NBA Championship run. Along the way, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett were glorified (and rightfully so) and House received very little praise.

I've always loved the underdog. For a stretch, Eric Hinske was my favorite player on the Red Sox. So, naturally, I was drawn to House.

I liked everything about Eddie, too. I liked his swagger and how he always seemed to be respectful out on the court.

As I was watching the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics game last night, one of the announcers on TNT said that 'Now here's a time that you could really use a three point shooter like Eddie House.'

You may think that the Celtics are going to miss the three-ball from House. But House is 31 and Robinson is 21. Robinson is the future, and, soon, House will be the past. The almost completely unknown past.

I've always looked at Robinson as the new Spud Webb: A short guy (Webb was only 5'7") who could dunk. Exactly like Nate Robinson.

The Knicks also acquired Tracy McGrady from the Houston Rockets, Brian Cardinal from the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sergio Rodriguez from the Portland Trail Blazers, making the Knicks arguably the most active team during the NBA trading deadline. The Celtics acquired no one else other than Marcus Landry.