Raps Forced To Contend With Big Ticket After Garnett Dealt To Celtics

The NBA‘s Big Ticket is headed to Boston, and in the process is moving a whole lot closer to the Toronto Raptors.

After much speculation, the Boston Celtics and Minnesota Timberwolves agreed on a major blockbuster Tuesday, agreeing to send 10-time all-star Kevin Garnett to Beantown for a hefty package that includes five players and a pair of draft picks.

To be specific, Boston will send a collection of young stars including big man Al Jefferson, point guard Sebastian Telfair, swingmen Gerald Green and Ryan Gomes and veteran shot blocker Theo Ratliff to Minnesota as well as two first-round draft selections in exchange for the 31-year-old former league MVP.

The deal fills significant needs for both teams. On the one hand, the T-Wolves say goodbye to their former superstar but receive four players under the age of 22 in return, helping replenish a lack of youth after several years of draft sanctions. On the other, Boston goes from a youth-filled roster with the second-worst record in the league to an Eastern Conference powerhouse boasting a triple threat of all-stars Garnett, Ray Allen and longtime Celtic Paul Pierce.

The trade will undoubtedly have significant implications for all teams in the Eastern Conference, but perhaps none more so than the Raptors, who added several pieces of their own this off-season in the hopes of making a run at an Atlantic Division title.

Now that run will have to go right through Garnett, a player that Toronto all-star Chris Bosh has called one of his heroes, and the player Bosh’s game is arguably most reminiscent of.

Photo courtesy Getty Images