David West to Celtics: Former Hornets Forward Makes Boston East Favorites

The Boston Celtics are reportedly close to signing David West as part of a sign-and-trade with the New Orleans Hornets that would make them the favorites to win the Eastern Conference this season.

A day after trading Glen Davis to the Orlando Magic for Brandon Bass, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge appears ready to pull off another wonderful trade to help Boston now and in the future.

What makes this West trade even better is the Celtics are likely going to include oft-injured center Jermaine O'Neal in the deal. O'Neal could not stay healthy last season and is pretty much worthless to them.

West himself is coming off an ACL tear, but according to NBA.com, he has "diligently rehabbed" this summer.

The major weaknesses the Celtics had against the Miami Heat in the playoffs last season were a lack of depth in the front court, rebounding and bench scoring.

With West, Bass, the re-signed Jeff Green and Purdue rookie JaJuan Johnson, the Celtics have excellent depth in the front court as well as some needed versatility.

West is a talented power forward who will contribute double-digit scoring on a nightly basis and will grab about seven to nine rebounds per game. Boston did not have a player like him against the Heat in the postseason who could come off the bench and give Kevin Garnett a break and at the same time perform well.

Asking Garnett to play major minutes at the end of the season at his age is a recipe for disaster. Asking aging teammates Ray Allen and Paul Pierce to do the same is also not in the team's best interests.

With the bench Ainge has assembled in the offseason, the Celtics' second unit could even compete with many NBA team's starting lineups.

Here is what the Celtics' depth chart would look like with West on the roster:

PG	SG	SF	PF	C
Rajon Rondo	Ray Allen	Paul Pierce	David West	Kevin Garnett
Avery Bradley	E'Twaun Moore (R)	Jeff Green	Brandon Bass	Chris Wilcox
Keyon Dooling	Marquis Daniels		JaJuan Johnson (R)

While they do not have many centers, rookie JaJuan Johnson is capable of playing there and obviously Ainge would find a veteran to fill the need at center before the season.

The Celtics did not have the youth and athleticism to beat the Heat last season, but with Johnson and West they have added athletic forwards who can create mismatches against most teams.

When you look at the Celtics' real competitors in the East, Boston matches up better now with all of them.

The Bulls have an elite point guard in Derrick Rose, but Rondo is the best defensive guard in basketball and is certainly capable of containing him. The Heat do not have a point guard or center who can dominate at either end of the floor, which are the two most important positions in basketball.

The Knicks added center Tyson Chandler via free agency Friday, but they still have little bench depth and absolutely no one good enough at point guard.

If they sign West, the Celtics will have the necessary depth, scoring, defense, athleticism and championship experience needed to win in the playoffs.

Many Boston sports fans were opposed to the idea of trading Rondo, even for someone like Chris Paul, and in not making a deal for the Hornets' star, the Celtics are getting more value for their money, as CelticsLife noted via twitter.

Ainge has done a masterful job this offseason of making the Celtics' roster much better, and he addressed the weaknesses that were the downfall of the team last year. He also did it in a way that did not sacrifice the future.

If West signs with Boston, they are the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. Not only are they talented, Boston has a team full of players who desperately want to win an NBA championship.

The "Drive for Banner 18" is alive and well on Causeway St.

Nicholas Goss is an NBA Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report

Follow @NicholasGoss35