A Love Hate Relationship

     Unless you live under a rock, you've probably heard Kevin Love was in Boston this past weekend to scope out how butch Southie chicks are. Obviously this validated the storyline that the Celtics were hot after this guys buns. It seems like everyone from the bean wants him now that he's visited the city and taken some selfies with locals. I plan on dedicating this article to explain why Kevin Love is the wrong answer for this Celtics team.

What it would take: (Based on Bill Simmons prediction)

Players:
Jared Sullinger

Draft Picks:
2014: 1st (Celts), 1st (Nets)
2015: 1st (Celts), 1st (Clippers)


     From everything thats been reported so far, it looks like the Celts will need to give up 4 1st round picks and Jared Sullinger for the pasty big man. Now just to compare this offer quickly, we only had to give up 2 1st rounders and a budding star in Big Al for a perennial All-Star and former League MVP. 'Ya but Skard, Love is only 25 years old, KG was 30!' Want to know why KG at 30 should still be more valuable than Love at 25? Dude plays defense. Garnett QUADRUPLED the amount of blocks and doubled the number of steals when he was 30 compared to Love at 25. Meanwhile, Sully has very comparable numbers to what Kevin Love did his 2nd year in the league, leading that oaf Roy Hibbert to proclaim him the Love of the East.

The Missing Piece:

     Now I am not going to act like Danny thinks the Rondo/Love combo will win a championship alone. So that leads us to try and predict what comes next. Say we make this trade happen and we re-sign Avery Bradley, here's what we've got:

PG: Rondo
SG: Bradley
SF: Green
PF: Love
C: ...Olynyk?

I have heard 3 names floating around as potential players to join this tandem.

First is Omer Asik, strictly based on Simmons article. Now if you go from 6 to midnight after hearing Rondo/Love/Asik are your Big Three to compete with Lebron/Wade/Bosh, then its probably been longer than 6 hours and you should head to the ER immediately. That trio will definitely bring winning basketball back to Boston, but it makes us no better than the Clippers in this league. Just the thought of Asik being the third piece makes my stomach turn so I'm going to move on.

Second is Greg Monroe. Let me start by saying I like Monroe, he gets boards, he can score, and he has some raw low post moves. Unfortunately, he is looking for a max contract after this year and will probably get it from someone due to the fact that there are about 5 more productive centers in the world than there are unicorns. It's ok to have your cap locked up when you have 3 future Hall of Famers in Pierce, Allen, and KG....but I'm not sure how I feel about no cap space with a pass-first PG, a developing Center, and a better Raef Lafrentz.

Finally, the baby faced assassin himself, Gordon Hayward. no....Noo.....NOOOOO! This guy is the most overrated player in the league and nobody even talks about him! 'Skard you idiot, have you seen that his PPG have risen every year in the league??' Ya I did see that you jackass, and I also noticed his minutes have gone up each year, as well as his shot attempts because the Jazz are a pathetic excuse for a basketball team. And if you happen to scroll over to the important stats, his FG% has been decreasing faster than the temperature in The Day After Tomorrow. I don't care that Stevens coached him at Butler, college ball is a whole different animal where 'team first' approaches can be successful. Not here big fella, in the Association you need at least 3 thoroughbreds in order to win the trophy, and Hayward is just a pack mule.

The Answer: 

     Stay true to the rebuild Danny! This is the deepest draft since potentially 2003, take a Marcus Smart, or a Julius Randle, or an Aaron Gordon, and lets build this young core brick by brick. Look to trade Rondo and get some value or cap space. There are about 5-8 really good point guard prospects coming out of this draft, and I don't see any 'pass first' PGs in the Finals this year. The Nets are going to be terrible again next year and I don't mind if we crap the bed for a second year either. That being said, my best case scenario is that the Celts package both picks, Rondo, and Aztec Geno for the Cavs #1 overall, then we draft Jab Parker or Andy Wiggins and build from there. Love isn't going to attract any big name free agents to sign here and neither is Rondo, this would just make us a better version of the Hawks, and I wouldn't wish being a Hawks fan on my worst enemy. Hopefully Danny can see that Kevin Love doesn't help us here, Love hurts.

PS: If we keep the pick and draft Dario Saric then I'm going to jump off a bridge.