4 Reasons Why Kevin Garnett May Be Traded During the 2011-12 NBA Season

The Boston Celtics are a veteran team led by their Big Three and Rajon Rondo. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce are getting up there in age and as a result, their pursuit of another championship is limited.

However, Garnett and Allen both have contracts that will be expiring at the end of the 2011-12 season. Since, these are decent-sized expiring contracts, should the Celtics look to make a trade so that they can bring in talent for the long term? This article looks at the possibility of trading Garnett.

Rajon Rondo is expected to be with the Celtics for the foreseeable future, and should the Celtics look to bring in players this season or wait until the offseason to decide what to do?

In the following slides are four reasons as to why the Celtics may be pushed into dealing Kevin Garnett in order to bring back young talent for the long term.

Garnett Is Entering the Last Year of His Contract That Will Pay Him $21.2M

With a massive expiring contract, Kevin Garnett may be in demand around the league. Whether that is another team looking to add him in their championship pursuit, or a team looking to clear cap space, that remains to be seen.

Especially around the trade deadline, teams are always looking to cut salary and undergo makeovers to their rosters. Could the Boston Celtics look to deal Garnett in order to rebuild for the future? If so, this may be the time to do so.

Looking at the team five years down the road, who will be starting alongside point guard Rajon Rondo?

If the Celtics Struggle During the Season

If the Boston Celtics struggle during the season whether it is due to injuries or having older players, the team may look to make some changes that will help the team both in the short and long term. Last year they brought in veterans Carlos Arroyo, Troy Murphy and Sasha Pavlovic which worked on the short term, but not in the long term, as each of these players are now unrestricted free-agents. It is unknown at this time if these players will be given an opportunity to return in 2011-12.

Danny Ainge Decides To Make a Sudden Trade

Will Danny Ainge trade Kevin Garnett and his expiring contract in order to build for the future? This may be an interesting issue that the team will face throughout the season as both Garnett along with veteran Ray Allen are entering the final year of their current contracts.

If Ainge decides to make a trade, will he let his history of making strange trades come in the way? Maybe there is some method to Ainge’s madness, as at the end of the day, he did acquire both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in 2007.

If the Celtics Are Unable to Add Depth in the Frontcourt During Free-Agency

The Celtics are already thin at the center position after losing Nenad Krstic to Europe and Shaquille O’Neal to retirement. Jermaine O’Neal has one year left on his contract but has not been healthy enough to be relied upon for the duration of the entire NBA season.

If the team is not able to acquire any depth for this position, could they dangle Garnett’s expiring contract to fill that need?