XYRYX
Man this trade gets me really excited!
My first thought was the Mavs really didn’t have to give up a lot in 3 rotation players but in reality Wright and Crowder are valuable members of the 2nd unit. If I’m not mistaken Wright is on his way to post record setting stats for the 4th year in a row efficiency wise but on the other hand the Mavs didn’t really have to involve one of their core guys to make this happen.
Woj is reporting that the 2015 Mavs pick involved is heavily protected: Protected 1-3 and 15-30 in 2015; 2016-2020 protected to No. 7.
For sure the Mavs bench is hurt heavily especially the frontcourt but Rondo is worth it and now the Mavs on Paper are really really appealing. A former MVP, A former DPOY, former COY, Parsons, Ellis who is peaking right now and now a walking tripple double, 4 time All Star and 4 time All Defensive Team member in Rondo who is still only 28 years old.
On the other hand the Celtics at least got something in return even if Wright is a FA after this year, Nelson has a 3.25 mio player option for next year and Crowder has a qualifying offer for 1.18 mio.
This basically means that none of the player involved going to the Celtics might be on this Celtics roster next year and considering the protected pick the Celtics didn’t get much in return in reality.
Oh and the West got even tougher! As of right now, the Mavs sit at 6th place and the whole Conference is still completely open. The battle for the last 2 spots could go on for a while:
http://www.nba.com/standings/team_record_comparison/conferenceNew_Std_Cnf.html