Do they actually have a better shot?

Well, when you sift through all the flotsam, jetsam, unwanteds, unknowns, and expiring contracts, it pretty much comes down to this: Ricky vs. Wally. Take your pick.

That's basically what the Celtics did last night in their megatrade with the Timberwolves. Yes, there were seven players involved and a few draft picks as well, but in essence the Celtics swapped 26-year-old fan favorite Ricky Davis for 28-year-old Wally Szczerbiak, who could soon become a fan favorite. (The Celtics also saved around $5 million, which always seems to matter in these things.)

Suddenly, Ron Artest's return tonight isn't that big of a deal anymore.

The original proposal -- Mark Blount for Michael Olowokandi -- was expanded to include Marcus Banks, Justin Reed, Davis, Szczerbiak, and Dwayne Jones, which means the Celtics now have two Saint Joseph's alums on their roster, Jones and Delonte West. But if you're a Celtics fan, you're more than entitled to scratch your head over this one. You can legitimately ask yourself this question: How have they improved? They're different, to be sure. And they've got a proven veteran in Szczerbiak. But do they look to be any better?

Yes, Szczerbiak is an excellent outside shooter and he's averaging a career-high 20.1 points a game. But he is not known for his defense and, the last time I checked, the Celtics needed more help on defense. And as one individual who was privy to the deal said last night, ''I don't see how Paul [Pierce] and Wally will coexist. That's too many shots."

It was Danny Ainge who blew up one Celtics team to bring in Davis, and it's Danny Ainge who now has tweaked a second Celtics team to send Davis elsewhere. Ainge's buddy in Minnesota, Kevin McHale, has always liked Davis. It was, after all, the Timberwolves who signed Davis to the offer sheet, which Cleveland matched. The rest is history. The Cavaliers hated him, eagerly sent him to Boston for players no longer in their employ, and Davis's game and reputation were rehabilitated in Boston. The Wolves will be his fifth NBA team.

Fan-wise, Davis was probably as popular as any Celtic and you could make a case that, even up, he's a more attractive candidate than Szczerbiak because of his athleticism, age, and his still-to-be-mined upside, provided anyone can tap into it.

But, having said that, the team Ainge blew up to get Davis was a .500 team with a coach who preached defense and whose players played defense. The team Ainge tweaked to get Szczerbiak is, two years later, well below .500 and has a coach who preaches defense. It's not all on Ricky, that's for sure. This team is younger, more accident prone, and doesn't defend as well.

I've never been a big Davis fan, but the guy plays hard, plays a lot, and had seemed to grow into his role in Boston. In other words, I have to believe there had to be more than just basketball that drove this deal, no matter what the Celtics say publicly.

''We like Ricky," Ainge said last night. ''This is not about getting rid of Ricky. This is about us getting an All-Star small forward. That's different. Wally brings more to the table than just being a shooter. I've always liked his toughness, his intensity, and his consistency as a shooter."

Toughness is something the Celtics most definitely lack and the Timberwolves have always said nice things about Szczerbiak in that particular department. He's not Cal Ripken (he played 28 games two years ago, when the Wolves had the best record in the Western Conference, and 52 the year before that) but he's also not Marcus Camby. He missed only one game last season and had appeared in all 40 of the Timberwolves' games this season.

And, he has some experience with Doc Rivers. The two were with the 2001 USA Goodwill Games team, which won the gold medal in Brisbane, Australia; Rivers was an assistant to Flip Saunders. Szczerbiak started all five games.

In the end, disappointment may have driven this deal as much as personnel. The Timberwolves have been a major bust this season. They've lost three in a row heading into tonight's game at Houston and are 19-21, threatening to not make the playoffs for the second straight season after being a playoff regular for eight straight years. However, in only one of those years, the last, did they get past the first round.

The Celtics talk wistfully about making it to the eighth spot in a watered-down Eastern Conference. They did get an All-Star (2002) whose calling card is shooting the basketball. Forget Olowokandi. His contract is up at the end of the year and the Celtics' plans are for Kendrick Perkins.

If Ainge is smart, he'll move him or release him; that's what Olowokandi's agent, Bill Duffy, suggested last night. Jones supposedly can rebound, which would be a nice thing to see in a Celtic. But he's a member of the Florida Flame for a good reason.

Wally or Ricky? The Get Buckets Brigade isn't happy. But hey, the team is eight games under .500 and going nowhere. That's when it's time for a change.