Here's my question - let's say that Chris Wallace doesn't trade Joe to the Suns, and Ainge still takes over a year later. We know what Danny thought of Antoine, but would he have kept JJ? We all know how Ainge was always looking for that other star player to put next to Pierce and he tried Wally World and Ricky Davis without success, but in Joe Johnson and Paul Pierce, he would have had the foundation for our title teams. Al Jefferson probably still would have been a Celtic, along with Delonte, and TA (ugh), but we still would have been mediocre at best. Would we have had enough to trade for KG, and possibly even a year earlier? Obviously there would have been no need to trade for Ray Allen, so we would have had even more to offer the Timberwolves, but how many titles does a core of Rondo, Joe, Pierce, and KG win? Imo, that team would still be together today, and that duo would have been lethal - on both ends. We would have had 2 starters who could guard Lebron, and Kobe couldn't post either one of them up because of their size, as opposed to what he did to Ray. I just think that we would have been even better, and Joe, imo, is better than Ray, especially because, not only is he even more clutch than Allen (which is saying a lot), but he also has a post game, unlike Ray, is an excellent passer and can play 1-3, and, perhaps most importantly, his ability to create his own shot when things break down gives him a huge edge. Now, he may not move like Ray does off of picks, but he can do it very effectively, and, because both he and Pierce are both such great shooters, everyone would still have plenty of room to operate. This video of him against the Knicks shows it all - fading and coming off screens (including dribbling off of one and swishing a shot when things broke down, creating his own shot), passing, etc. He just, man. What a player. Pierce and Johnson would have been like Wade and Lebron, except that they can shoot and play off the ball. The only area where the guys from the Heat would have had an advantage is athletically, but even last year, we saw that Pierce can still guard Wade very effectively, and Joe can take Lebron. Okay, I'm rambling. Sorry about that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UflZPNxYFoAhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urlI1XGbyb8