Recent trades were all about the money.

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Author: Unknown

Just as the New York-Toronto trade was all about the Raptors' dumping Jalen Rose's salary, the Boston-Minnesota deal was mostly about giving.

The Celtics wanted to liberate themselves from Mark Blount at any cost, and it just so happens Danny Ainge was able to close a scorer-for-scorer deal (Ricky Davis for Wally Szczerbiak) while ridding himself of a chronic nuisance.

Though the Celtics added one of the league's purest shooters, a first-round pick and a former No. 1 overall pick (legendary underachiever Michael Olowokandi) in the process, improvement won't be immediately apparent. Davis truly resurrected his career in Boston â€" he was the C's best defender, and his game blended fairly well with Paul Pierce's. Szczerbiak can't match Davis for energy or imagination off the dribble, but he is a likely to be a good complement to Pierce. Entering the week, the Celtics were 1-5 with Wally World orbiting their perimeter, but he'll do well with Pierce as long as he remembers he isn't the star.

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