My thoughts on the trade...

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I like this one. First, let's look at the guys we're getting...

Ricky Davis is the key. He's a huge talent. He can shoot, pass, run, jump... he's the player we'd hoped Kedrick would become. He's actually a great passer. BUT... Can he be coached? Can he be a team player? He has put up huge numbers on a bad team and hasn't handled Silas' tough love well. Will it be different with Obie? If you can get him on-board and playing team basketball, his contract is an absolute bargain and you've added a huge talent. If you can't get him on board... well, I still think he's tradeable because of that reasonable contract. I DO NOT think he starts ahead of Jiri. O'Brien has said over and over again that Jiri has been the key to the recent success. I see Davis taking over EWill's role as sixth man, albeit probably running more Pierce-type plays than EWill plays. Davis is not the post-up player EWill is, but he's better at everything else. He really is a talent.

Chris Mihm has been playing great. He's actually playing a lot like Raef this season. I see him stepping right into Raef's role as a high-post big man. Check out his numbers. This has been his breakout season. I actually think he could flourish in the Celtics' more structured system. 

Yogi Stewart's contract basically replaces Tony Battie's contract. I think the salaries are pretty close and they expire at the same time. The Cavs get the better end of the talent exchange, but the edge clearly goes to Boston in the talent exchange between EWill/Kedrick and Davis/Mihm.

And the guys we gave up...

EWill... This is exactly the kind of deal that Ainge needed to make with EWill's expiring contract. Good luck finding a better player than Ricky Davis with the mid-level exception. That's just not going to happen. If Davis gets his act together and fits in, he's a huge addition. If not, he has a reasonable contract and someone else will be willing to take a chance. The thing they'll miss most about EWill is his low-post game and ability to get to the line. But he wasn't coming back next season.

Battie... I've never been a big Battie fan. He's OK. I never got the impression he played extremely hard or cared all that much. His lateral movement made him a good fit in Harter's defense. I'm not going to miss him.

Kedrick... It was time. If the stars align and everything works out perfectly, Kedrick turns into Ricky Davis. Really. They both were raw, extremely athletic players who came into the league too soon. Davis eventually got it. Maybe Kedrick will. But he'll never be better than Ricky Davis. We're trading Kedrick's potential for Davis' proven ability.

Could this backfire? Absolutely. Maybe Davis is the human carcinogen some make him out to be. But take away the "shooting at his own basket to get a triple double" incident, and is he viewed as harshly? I don't remember him being involved in nearly as many off-court incidents as Bonzi Wells or Rasheed Wallace, and many posters were standing in line to trade for those guys. Anyway, maybe Davis ruins the Celtics' chemistry and things deteriorate quickly. Maybe. But every trade has risk. Ainge traded Antoine for lesser talent and a better fit. Now he's trading for more talent. If he can get the fit part just as right, the Celts have scored a huge coup. 

The nice thing is Obie doesn't have to throw the guy in the starting lineup. He can bring him off the bench by simply feeding him EWill and Kedrick's minutes. It's that simple. And they add Mihm, who replaces some of what Raef was providing, and Stewart is insurance at the center spot. The contracts aren't terrible. Next season, Stewart will have the same value that EWill and Mills (remember, Ainge still has Mills' expiring contract) had this season.

It's a risky trade with a HUGE upside. I don't think the downside is quite as big. I really don't. I think this is a good deal.

Mark