Honestly, what were the Celtics thinking? Amid their mad scramble to fill up their roster, word came out over the weekend from SI’s Ian Thomsen that Larry Brown was 90 percent sure that he was joining to the Celtics as an assistant coach this summer. Not only that, but the whole idea was apparently conceived and endorsed by Doc Rivers! As we pointed out this weekend, we cannot imagine a worse scenario for Doc … unless of course he was aiming to be out of a job within months (or weeks) of making that move. True, the deal was supposedly close to happening prior to the KG trade, but it still would have been a one-way ticket for Doc back to the broadcast booth.

There is no doubt as to how that scenario would have played out: Brown, as his his M.O., would have immediately made himself the center of the story. The media would instantly have started speculating in blogs/newspaper columns about when LB would be replacing Doc on the sidelines. They’d be grilling Doc, Brown, players, assistant coaches, front office people at every single opportunity about when the change would go down. The Celts drop a few games early on in the season? Bring in Brown. Any head-butting among Doc, Ray and/or Paul Pierce? Bring in Brown. The Celts aren’t dominating the Eastern Conference come the All-Star Break? Bring in Brown. It would have been relentless, and only made worse when KG was added to the mix because expectations would have been that much greater. And, as we’ve seen from Brown so many times over the years, he would do nothing but stoke the drama. He’s really quite adept at doing exactly that.

Everyone in the basketball world seems to think that the Celtics are pretty much a lock to represent in the Eastern Conference Finals this year. And on paper, they should. Boiled down to its most simple form, LeBron took the Cavs to the Finals with no other elite players — the Celts have three. Makes total sense, right? Aside from factors that they have no control over, such as injuries, the greatest threat to a Boston run is clearly team chemistry among the Big Three and the young players. I firmly believe, though, that the Ray-KG-Pierce mix, in terms of being able to gel and excel, is probably one of the best combos of NBA A-List talent that you could ever put together. So, if I had to pick an outside factor that could immediately screw that up? The words “Larry” and “Brown” would immediately come to mind. As he’s shown so many times over the years, most recently with his Knicks and Team USA debacles, he is divisive and cannot handle not being the main story wherever he goes. Larry Brown content as Doc Rivers’ assistant coach? Please. If Brown wanted the Celtics job, this would have been the easiest way for him to put himself in a spot to be running the show sooner rather than later. How quickly do you think Brown would be openly questioning Doc’s coaching moves in the press? If you said “Before the end of training camp,” you’d be correct.

That’s why I can’t understand why Doc would ever condone this. The real story had to have been one of the following three:

1. It really wasn’t Doc’s idea at all. Instead, it came down from the Celtics brass and Doc was allowed to take credit for it so that the “When Will Brown Replace Doc Rivers?” circus would be a little less manic.

2. It was an idea discussed with Brown and Boston that LB amplified and used for more leverage in Philly. Ian Thomsen says that Brown decided to stay put in Philly as the Sixers’ VP of Basketball after speaking with Sixers’ owner Ed Snider. Does that mean that Snider offered Brown more money? A larger title? A promise to replace Mo Cheeks as head coach when the Sixers are a mess from the jump this season? All are readily believable.

3. Doc is really that confident in his standing. Or he’s just clueless. Hey, you never know.