Celts Trade Davis, Acquire Szczerbiak

Danny Ainge finally made his move last night. The Celtics traded Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marcus Banks, Justin Reed and two future second round picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Wally Szczerbiak, Michael Olowokandi, Dwayne Jones and a conditional first round pick. The move has been made but the direction of this club is still in question. This looks like two separate trades in one. The first is Davis for Szczerbiak. Both are considered second-tier stars; the guys who compliment the big guns. For years Szczerbiak has been a guy loaded with talent (the All-Star is a 50% shooter taking mostly perimeter shots) who wasn't comfortable in this role in Minnesota -- he wanted the big shots even playing with Kevin Garnett. How will he fit in with Paul Pierce in Boston? Davis, on the other hand, seemed to relish the idea of playing the role of Robin to Pierce's Batman. When he first came to the Celtics he gave an interview in which he said that he envisioned himself as the "Scottie Pippen to Pierce's Michael Jordan." Ricky obviously embraced being the second option and he gave the Celtics an energy that I don't know if Szczerbiak is capable of bringing. If I was Paul Pierce this morning I might be having some doubts, if I was Kevin Garnett I would be very happy. The second trade is Blount, Banks, Reed and the picks for the Kandi Man, Jones and the conditional pick. This is basically a swap of headaches with some throw-ins to make it all work. The C's were bogged down with Blount's contract and inability to rebound in the center position. He had to go -- especially to make room for the growth of Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins. From the T-Wolves perspective, Olowokandi (who may be released by the C's), the overall No. 1 pick in the 1998 draft by the Clippers (who passed on Pierce), they needed a fresh start at center. The Kandi Man is a bust and it was killing them; Blount may not be an All-Star but playing with KG should help him. Blount is a jump shooter who doesn't rebound -- KG is a great distributor when the defense collapses and he is one of the games top rebounders. Banks, Reed, Jones and all of the draft picks just figure in this to make it work financially on both sides. The biggest plus for the Celtics in this trade is the savings of nearly $5-million. Ainge needed some payroll flexibility and this trade accomplishes that. And even though they lose a player like Davis, adding Szczerbiak's 20.1 points-per-game is a positive (as long as he stays healthy). However, the question of whether or not this trade makes the Celtics better remains. The C's play Ron Artest and the new-look Kings tonight at the Fake Garden. I'm sure there will be some opinions on this move by both management and the players tonight. Do tune in.