Celtics About to Punch Ticket

Boston scores Garnett, will send Big Al, Telfair, Ratliff, and Green to 'Sota
By Jesse Andrews,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 31, 2007 4:36 AM CDT
Celtics About to Punch Ticket
Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett pumps his fist to his chest before the start of the basketball game with the Los Angeles Clippers in Minneapolis in this Nov. 25, 2006 file photo. Garnett is leaving Minnesota after the Boston Celtics agreed to acquire the All-Star forward in a multiplayer...   (Associated Press)

Where the Celtics failed late last month, they now seem to be succeeding in prying 12-year vet and 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett from Minnesota. Pending the trade, Boston will have the formidable trio of Garnett, new pickup Ray Allen, and franchise stalwart Paul Pierce; they should become instant contenders to rival Detroit and Boston in a hapless East.

The Big Ticket had rejected the idea of playing for Boston before the team traded for sharpshooter Ray Allen. The summer now marks the abandonment of a long and unsuccessful youth movement, and consequently the end of Pierce's related frustration. Boston now enters serious luxury-tax territory: its stars will make a combined $58 million in 2007-08 alone. (More NBA stories.)

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