i disagree on the upgrade... i think they're about even.
carter is a better scorer but hedo did more as far as rebounding and being a mismatch issue.
plus they lost a lot of depth in getting rid of alston and especially Lee that they're going to have to replace.
could you argue that their starting lineup is a little better? yes... but they lost a lot of depth and lost a lot of height.
adding sheed will be good.
Losing Lee really sucks, as I was hoping they'd be able to make a big trade involving Redick, but he's a serviceable shooter and defender who could be replaced.
They had Alston, Johnson, and Lue and Alston's contract was the easiest to move. He's also pretty inconsistent, and I don't know how he would've done in a back-up role.
Battie and Gortat were splitting minutes, and Battie hadn't been the same since his season-long injury. Don't mind him being gone.
Hedo would've wanted a big contract (for one stand-out season and a few solid ones), and while he does have the positive qualities that you mentioned earlier, he's also tremendously inconsistent. Maybe it was due to injury or whatever, but he didn't show up until about halfway through the Celtics series (gamewinner against Philly notwithstanding).
What the deal really does is give the team to Jameer Nelson, as he's now the primary ballhandler and expected to carry most of the offense. Hedo's going to be overpaid and ineffective in a system where he's not in control of the offense. Plus, Carter's on the books for 2 years as opposed to the 4-5 years Hedo's deal would've commanded. I would've preferred that they had traded for a quality big man who can spread the defense for Dwight , but I do think getting a guy like Bass or even Wallace (who's a good player, but I'm not a fan of), possibly re-signing Gortat, and shifting Lewis back to his natural position at the 3 is an improvement.
And they still have the rights to Fran Vasquez. So they've got that going for them, which is nice.