Boston Celtics To Oklahoma City Thunder: You Scratch My Back, I'll Scratch Yours
The Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics share a common enemy; Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers.
The 2 best series in last year's playoffs were the Lakers' 6 game battle against the Thunder and the 7 game NBA Finals classic between Boston and LA.
Both teams needed additional pieces to be able to beat the Lakers, while also trying to stay ahead of other teams in their respective conferences. In a deal that got done just in time for the trade deadline, the Celtics and Thunder both gave each other the pieces they need to beat LA.
How The Celtics Were Built Before The Trade
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The Boston Celtics had 6 big men on their roster before the deadline. This team was built to combat Dwight Howard and push around Pau Gasol/ Andrew Bynum.
In the first half of the season, the Heat made it abundantly clear that they're going to be the team to challenge the Celtics in the East. Orlando is all types of dysfunctional, and with New York signing Carmelo Anthony, the focus for Boston shifted to bringing in a small forward to battle LeBron James and Carmelo, rather than loading up on big men.
It does no good for the Celtics to build their team around big men that can bang with Los Angeles in the finals if they become vulnerable to the guards/small forwards of Miami and New York.
How The Thunder Were Built Before The Trade
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Every NBA fan knew that the Thunder needed a big man.
Before the deadline, Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic were the Thunder's answer to Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.
They needed a strong defensive center- not necessarily a scorer, but someone who could body up with the big men in the West.
Jeff Green Is The Perfect Addition For Boston
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Remember how James Posey played for the Celtics in 2008? Jeff Green will be even better.
The Celtics are adding a player who was scoring 15.2 ppg for the Thunder and did so while not at his natural position.
Jeff Green will be the perfect backup to Paul Pierce. Keep this in mind- Marquis Daniels (who the Celtics traded away to Sacramento for cash) used to be the backup for Pierce. Daniels, even when he was in Dallas and Indiana, never averaged more than 14 ppg. Green has averaged over 15 ppg the last 3 seasons, even with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook taking most of the team's shots.
Danny Ainge drafted Jeff Green years ago, then traded him away to the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder) for Ray Allen. He hasn't forgotten why he drafted him in the first place.
Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson Make Oklahoma City a Contender
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With the recent additions, the Oklahoma City Thunder now have a perfect mix of offensive and defensive-minded players.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Nate Robinson each can score plenty of points in a hurry. Durant is a guaranteed 30 a night, Westbrook 20, and Harden with Robinson should give the Thunder 25 points a night off the bench. That's 75 points between four players.
On defense, Kendrick Perkins will anchor the center position and be able to guard Andrew Bynum, Tim Duncan and Zach Randolph, with no need for double teams. Serge Ibaka can start at either power forward or come in as the backup center, and continue to block shots on defense and electrify the crowd with tip-in dunks on offense.
Thabo Sefolosha is one of the better perimeter defenders out there and will most likely still start at shooting guard.
Not Thinking Too Far Ahead, How Boston Matches Up With Eastern Foes
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Miami Heat-
The Celtics will throw Ray Allen and Delonte West at Dwyane Wade come playoff time. More importantly, they will have Paul Pierce and Jeff Green to share defensive duties on LeBron (remember how much James Posey helped in both the Cavaliers and Lakers series a few years ago?). Down low, the Celtics still have Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, Glen Davis, Jermaine O'Neal and now Nenad Krstic to deal with Chris Bosh.
Chicago Bulls-
Losing Kendrick Perkins hurts the Celtics when dealing with Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah. However, the Celtics now have four legitimate 20-point scorers (considering Delonte West is back and healthy come playoffs) at shooting guard and small forward that will overwhelm the Bulls.
Orlando Magic-
This is the gamble. Losing Perkins and even Semih Erden, means the Celtics absolutely need Shaquille O'Neal to be healthy. They will have to use double-teams when he is not on the floor. This could be a second round matchup and if Shaquille and Jermaine O'Neal are injured, the Celtics can not feel too confident about Kristic being their lone-remaining center.
New York Knicks-
The Knicks will have less size down low than the Celtics. The Celtics will also be able to use Jeff Green on both Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire.
The Celtics do not have a true backup point guard. This isn't too much of a problem since Rajon Rondo plays nearly 40 minutes a night and Delonte West feels comfortable bringing up the ball.
How Oklahoma City Matches Up With Los Angeles
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Russell Westbrook has gotten better and Derek Fisher has gotten older. The addition of Steve Blake is not enough to cover the difference.
Kobe Bryant spends time guarding Russell Westbrook, but if Nate Robinson is on the floor too, does that mean Fisher chases Nate around? Kobe will still continue to dominate in this series, but the speed of the Thunder will have its toll on his knees.
Kevin Durant has gone up and Ron Artest has gone down. The Lakers will need Matt Barnes to be healthy.
Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum now have to go up against Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins. The Thunder can bring in the Jayhawk brothers, Nick Collison and Cole Aldrich, when their starters get into foul trouble.
The X-factor in this series is Lamar Odom. Without Jeff Green, the best person to guard Lamar would be Kevin Durant and Oklahoma City does not want their superstar in foul trouble from that assignment.
To be honest, I think the Thunder have put themselves in position to knock out the Lakers with this trade.
How Oklahoma City Matches Up With Rest of The West
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Kendrick Perkins will help the Thunder against the high scoring big men of Los Angeles. On the flip side, the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks do not have scoring centers.
Shutting down Dejuan Blair, Tim Duncan and Tyson Chandler is not how you beat the Spurs and Mavericks.
The Spurs and Thunder actually match up fairly evenly after the trade, but I have to believe the Spurs experience and home court advantage would propel them past the Thunder.
With Dallas, the Thunder are at a disadvantage. Let's say the Thunder start Westbrook, Thabo, Durant, Ibaka and Perkins. Perkins guards Chandler. Westbrook guards Kidd. Thabo guards Terry. Durant guards Dirk. Ibaka guards... Shawn Marion?
The Mavericks are a tough matchup, because you need a versatile power forward to guard Nowitzki. Jeff Green gave them this piece. Without him, Durant covers Dirk, which allows Marion to have a huge quickness advantage on Collison or Ibaka.
The Thunder are built well to beat LA, but their more likely second-round opponents still have the edge.
How Boston Matches Up With Los Angeles
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Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and now Jeff Green can all split the task of covering Kobe Bryant.
Strangely, the Boston Celtics chances to beat Los Angeles rests in Shaquille O'Neal's hands.
To reach his 5th ring, and fittingly beat Kobe to get there, Shaq must be healthy and give the Celtics 20-25 minutes a night battling Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Glen Davis, Nenad Krstic and maybe Jermaine O'Neal can help share responsibilities, but no one is able to fill in the gap of Perkins better than Shaq.
How Boston Would Match Up With Oklahoma City
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In the year that most expected Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat in the NBA Finals, how surprising would it be to see this matchup?
Kendrick Perkins would battle with Shaquille O'Neal keeping him under 10 points. This doesn't really hurt, since the Celtics wouldn't expect Shaq to give them anymore than 6 points in order to be successful.
Jeff Green and Paul Pierce would share responsibilities guarding Kevin Durant and Von Wafer would cover Nate Robinson when Ray Allen and Thabo are out of the game.
Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook are both incredibly fast, young point guards who would cancel each other out.
Matched up together, the Celtics would have the edge over the Thunder. However, both teams are winners at the trade deadline since they are now more equipped to defeat their common enemy.
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