Bird's Still Preoccupied by 1985
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If this offseason has proven nothing else, it's that the loyalties of the 1980's Celtics continue to be unwavering. The actions of the ex-Boston players who are now GMs elsewhere seem to suggest that they've forgotten they're no longer working in Beantown. First, you've got Kevin McHale, who inexplicably decided that he liked Al Jefferson more than Amare Stoudamire and as a result made a deal that gives the Celtics their best nucleus since McHale, Larry Bird and Robert Parrish played on the parquet floor while allowing the Timberwolves to be competitive...sometime next decade.
Having secured that their beloved team's solid showing for 2007-08, the Ex-Celtics Club is now turning its attention to its other primary mission: preventing improvement by their hated rivals, the Lakers. Your move, Mr. Bird. The Legend knows that his star player, Jermaine O'Neal, desperately desires to team up with longtime friend Kobe Bryant. He also knows that his team is in a rebuilding mode. Yet, he insists upon relieving LA of both Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom in any trade involving O'Neal, rather than taking the Lakers' fair counteroffer of Bynum, Brian Cook and Kwame Brown. Odom's certainly not a greybeard, but the soon-to-be 28-year-old is not the player I'd go after if I were running a youth movement. Certainly, he wouldn't be excited at the prospect of joining one at this stage of his career, which would undoubtedly affect the chemistry of the Pacers' locker room. Plus, if Bird's facing the facts, he knows he needs several pieces to help this team, not just one borderline All-Star and a 19-year-old center (no matter how talented said 19-year-old center might be). Cook's a solid 3-point shooter who can create matchup problems, and Brown could easily develop into a decent Eastern Conference power forward after having to go up against the likes of Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki and Amare Stoudamire 4 times each per year.
Look, I don't really believe Bird is being obstinate about this trade because of old grudges, but he really is asking too much. Odom for O'Neal straight-up is a fair deal. Asking the Lakers to also give up Bynum (who everybody and their brother has been asking for lately when talking to Mitch Kupchak) is not. If Bird gets that through his head, he can make a deal that would help both clubs. Being the ferocious competitor that he is, though, I wonder if he can bring himself to make a deal that he doesn't think completely skewers the other side.
