The Boston Celtics could use another big body right about now. Kevin Garnett is expected to miss as much as another two weeks with an ankle injury. KG has missed four of the past six games for the Celtics, and the team is currently in the middle of a five-game losing streak. Coincidence? I think not.
Boston could have signed Kenyon Martin to bolster their front court earlier this season, but Danny Ainge and company dragged their heels and lost him to the New York Knicks. After the Knicks beat the Celtics in Boston on Tuesday night, Martin was quick to say “I told you so.”
“It’s their fault,” he said according to Jessica Camerato of CSNNE.com. “They lost. There was talks, there was negotiations, they chose not to do it. It was out of my control. I’m a Knick now, so they lost.”
The Knicks have been struggled with injuries to their front court, most notably Amar’e Stoudemire, so they decided to bring Martin in on two separate 10–day contracts before finally signing him to a deal for the veteran’s minimum. The acquisition has panned out nicely, as the 35-year-old is averaging 13.2 points and 7.0 rebounds during New York’s current five-game win streak.
When asked why the Celtics passed on Martin, Doc Rivers didn’t really have an answer.
“I don’t know,” Rivers said, via WEEI.com. “We looked at all the guys, we were still looking at guards at the time. So we were in no hurry at the time for a big. We were looking for more a big of size, if you know what I mean. And by the time we got around to it, he was gone.”
Perhaps Martin was not as much of a priority as he should have been when Garnett was relatively healthy, but the Celtics should have seen this coming given KG’s age and recent injury history. If Garnett cannot get healthy before the end of the season, the Celtics could be in danger of being bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
