The Boston Celtics and New York Knicks have agreed on a trade that will send Nate Robinson and Marcus Landry to the C’s in exchange for Eddie House, J.R. Giddens, Bill Walker and a future conditional second-round draft pick.
Yes, the Knicks wanted to give up NateRob that badly. House will likely fit in just fine in coach Mike D’Antoni’s system since he had previously played in it in Phoenix, but really this is a downgrade from Robinson. Both players played similar roles for their respective teams, providing instant offense off of the bench. Robinson, however, is a bit more dynamic with his athleticism and his ability to score elsewhere on the floor than just outside of the three-point line.
Granted, Giddens and Walker never got an opportunity to prove themselves on Boston’s stacked squad, but their inclusion in this trade was likely nothing more than providing the right contracts to make this work. The Celtics won’t be losing any sleep with this one.
It will, however, be interesting to see how Robinson can integrate himself into this savvy and established Boston team. Robinson is a scorer, and boy does he like to get shots up, but he’ll have to learn to defer to the Boston stars. In New York, it was more of a free-for all with no go-to players. Suddenly he is on a team with three future Hall-of-Famers in an offensive system based around teamwork and execution. Sure, the Celtics got the more talented player in this trade (by far), but House knew his role and was never a distraction. Logic would suggest that Robinson will conform to the winning ways already established in Boston, and the trio of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen is not a group to learn the intricacies of playing championship basketball.
Ultimately, I think this will make the Celtics a better team, but don’t be surprised if there is a bit of a transitional period before Robinson begins to truly click with the C’s.
