NBA / Jun 18, 2010 / 4:00 pm

Celtics: The Blueprint To Save Them From Complete Disaster

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Rajon Rondo (photo. Gary Land)

As a Celtics fan, I got a lot of texts, BBMs and e-mails last night after the game. Some of them were condolence calls, and others were boastful, champagne-ridden messages from Laker fans. But you know what? I was content. Back when I wrote that the Celtics could still win the NBA Championship on March 8th, people thought I was crazy. And in retrospect, I knew that i was going out on a limb. But after this amazing series, I’m more proud of Boston’s resilience than upset with their loss.

Now that the offseason has officially started, it’s time to look forward to the 2010-11 Boston Celtics. From possible major shakeups to the NBA Draft and free agency, here’s everything you need to know.

Possible Major Shakeups
If you ask me, I was kind of upset with Doc Rivers during his press conference last night. While we all realize that Kendrick Perkins would have made a difference, to say that the starting lineup from 2008 still hasn’t lost is a bit of a cop out. And looking forward, that starting five my never play together again.

It’s widely known that if unrestricted free agent Ray Allen is going to return, he’s going to have to take a huge pay cut to do so. Crazily, Allen was the highest paid player on the Celtics this year making over $20 million. And if want’s to return to Boston, he’ll most likely have to agree to mid-level exception deal like Rasheed Wallace did last summer.

In terms of other major shakeups, six role/bench players are all unrestricted free agents: Tony Allen, Marquis Daniels, Michael Finley, Nate Robinson, Brian Scalabrine and Shelden Williams. And I can’t see any of these guys being a major priority to bring back. So assuming Paul Pierce doesn’t exercise his early termination option, the Celtics will already have of $63 million committed to their core six guys – Rondo, Perkins, Pierce, Wallace, Kevin Garnett and Glen Davis – making it hard to add key pieces. Clearly not afraid to pay the luxury tax, they’ll have to be smart filling out the roster.

NBA Draft
As far as the Draft is concerned, Boston has two selections: No. 19 and No. 52. So with a need for rotational players, look for them to take a player ready to come in and play at No. 19. This year’s Draft especially has a surplus of solid talent. While the potential superstars are most likely tied up in the Lottery, they should find some solid prospects still available on the board. Whoever they select, they should be complementary to the nucleus of Rondo & Perkins, as they are most likely the building blocks of the future.

Free Agency
As noted above, with so many players being free agents, the Celtics are going to be forced to be active in the open market. If they’re smart, they do what the Knicks did this past summer and sign guys to one- or two-year deals, with the hopes of being big players in free agency during the Summer of 2012. At that point, Garnett and Wallace will be large expiring contracts, and Rondo will be the face of the franchise. Regardless, they’re going to have to sign guys, and will most likely retain

Conclusion
While I hate to say it, the Celtics are no shoe-in to be in the Top 4 of the Eastern Conference any longer. Despite future Hall of Famers on the roster, 82-game seasons are going to look longer and longer to guys like Pierce, KG and ‘Sheed, while Rondo attempts to push the franchise forward into the next decade. But for all the Celtics faithful out there, believe me, there is light at the end of the tunnel. If the Boston brass can be smart about who they invest in this summer, they’ll be setting themselves up for another trip to the Finals before you know it.

What do you think? Where do the Celtics go from here?

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  • Jah

    No big shake-ups needed. Keep as many key guys as possible (i.e., Big Three, Rondo, Perk, Big Baby, Tony Allen, Nate), sign some young shooters and athletic bigs…rinse and repeat.

  • NTstateOFmind

    agree with #1, try to keep what they got and just add some depth to the frontcourt to deal with the rebounding issues exposed during the finals

    …and give rondo some shooting lessons during the summer

  • Celts Fan

    We slowly go the way of the Heat after the Shaq trade down to a mediocre Playoff team. It was worth every second. What a ride…

  • Bizz

    If Rondo comes back next year with a sturdy mid-range game and a consistent free throw % in the mid 70%’s, Boston will be in just as much as a good position as they were this year to advance deep into the playoffs. A 3 point shot would be nice, but that’s probably on the side of wishful thinking. Unless he can consistently hit open jumpers, other teams will have continued success of roaming while he doesn’t have the ball if they’re a good defensive team.

  • Ricki

    Ray-Ray’s definitely gone…but I won’t be able to take it if Pierce goes, too. Nasty Nate’s a good pick up, too.

  • The Other Aj

    ditto, dump all that garbage on the bench that saw no PT (anyone seen the ghost of Mike Finley?) get some young wings to run with rondo…athletic big man, and resign Ray Ray and bring him in as the 6th man.

  • Celts Fan

    Let’s assume we keep the nucleus intact and resign TA. We’d still need:

    a backup PG – Please God let Avery Bradley drop. We don’t necessarily need a great distributor, just a guy that can pass, play D, and stretch the floor a bit so it’s not the worst shooting back-court ever when TA comes in.

    a bench shooter – our best shooter off hte bench once we let go of Eddie House (he may’ve been able to provide a spark last night) was either Sheed or Nate. Go get Kyle Korver.

    a backup bigman that can score to eventually take over for KG – I like Baby a lot and Sheed’s good as a backup 5, but if Perk’s gonna miss some time next year – and even if not – we need to plan for the future and get a backup 5 with some size for the forseeable future. Perk’s a hell of a defender, but he’s only good if you have a post scorer next to him. KG’s aging quickly. I’d love Hassan Whiteside to drop to us. We have time to develop him.

    a backup wing that’s an all-around player – I wanted Paul George, but I’ll take Damione James too. If the pick becomes Luke Babbitt or Gordon Haywood, I’m gonna commit suicide.

  • Legend 33

    I think the first domino starts with Doc, if he leaves I say blow it up. Hope Pierce opts out and trade KG to a contender like OKC for picks or young talent. If the big 3 leaves Sheed is retiring and coming off the cap. We will have to build around Perk and Rondo and suck for the next 3 years in order to make a run at the chip again with lottery talent and free agents. Because bringing everybody back will only result in overpaying guys and 2nd round exits for the next 2-3 years.

  • Dan

    Offseason strategy-

    1. Dealing with Ray Allen – this one is tricky. I feel like websites like this are overrating the value that Ray will bring to any team. At this stage of his career he remains a model player and teammate but is more of a streaky three point shooter who relies mostly on screens to get his offense. While I love Ray as much as any other player on the C’s, if other teams overvalue Ray like the media has been and Ray is unwilling to stick with the C’s at a lower pay than he would get elsewhere, it will tragically be time to let Ray go.

    2. Get a shooter – The C’s offensive difficulties were made glaringly clear in the finals game 7. Even if they keep Ray, a backup SF or SG who can bring some offense off the bench will be desperately needed for next year. Fortunately, this year’s draft has enough talented scorers (James Anderson, Xavier Henry, Jordan Crawford, Paul George, maybe Luke Babbit) that the Celtics should certainly be able to find someone to come in and contribute immediately.

    3. Free agency — with limited cap space, the Celtics are going to need to try something like the Phoenix Suns did last year – signing undervalued players for cheap and hoping they can develop into useful rotation players. Developing a strong bench is particularly important because of the rest we will need to give to KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray to prepare for the playoffs.

    4. Resigning bench players — of the above players, I think resigning Nate and Tony Allen are most important. Tony provides excellent off the bench defense while Nate, if willing to take a reasonable contract as a Celtics bench player, should act as a more than serviceable backup PG for Rondo.

    5.If Rasheed retires – we will need a backup big man, something more easily said than done.

  • Three Stacks

    Celtics will never, ever, ever win another championship. Fuck Boston.

  • sh!tfaced

    Slowly winding down like San Antonio – without the dynasty. Any C’s fan who lived through the 90′s up to this decade can’t ask for anything more. It was a hell of a run.

    It’s a long shot but still hoping Ainge could make something happen here and inject new life though…

    And doesn’t Boston have Bird rights on Ray?

  • Lake Fan

    Another post about the Celtics. Dime Mag needs to do some off season shake ups and get rid of these writers.

  • Matt

    As far as I know, Doc made that comment about the that particular starting 5 having never lost while in the Celtic locker room. He said it as a way to try and give the team some confidence back. They were crushed. I thought he was asked about what he said in the locker room and that was his response. To me, that makes a big difference. A coach says what he needs to say to help his players, just as Jackson said the Celtics always lose 4th quarters to try to get his team going.

  • CasualFan

    Damn Three Stacks!!! what’s up with all the hatred?!?!!Boston just laid their heart and soul out in Game 7. Well it’s like Jay-Z said on Blueprint 2, “Some poeple hate”…..

  • ENEW

    @ Lake Fan – great response you really added something there.

    It will be very interesting to see what Ainge does and doesn’t pursue.

    The 19th pick in the draft definitely gets them some talent, this needs to be a smart pick for both talent and future trade options. Ray coming back on the cheap most likely happens, though I am not sure how I feel about it right now.

    Finding a way to bring Rudy Gay to the Celtics would be a terrific move, Danny?

  • Three Stacks

    @ CasualFan

    I never said they didn’t play hard. I’m just sayin, they will never, ever, ever win another championship. And fuck Boston. The entire city should fornicate themselves with a giant stick.

    BTW, I hope Paul Pierce knows everyone in his hometown hates him.

  • rapTOr

    who cares the lakers won the chip…we shouldnt have to read anything remotely related to boston for about 3, maybe 4 weeks, minimum.

  • Soul Jax

    @Three stacks Haha why don’t you ask the good people of Philly what they think of Kobe.
    Feel however you want about the “win”, but the refs put the Lakers into a position to win. Poo Poo the blown calls all you want but how is Pau purposefully crashing into KG during his momentum shifting dunk not an and1?
    How does KG, quite possibly the best PF in history, nail an and1 banker and not get one of those famous star calls that Lakers faithful are so enamored with.
    Face it the refs handed you the title and the better team lost.
    Gratz on your hollow victory buy a finals shirt like the NBA wants. maybe the refs will start just calling bs fouls for you on every play and save themselves the trouble of attempting to hide their blatant corruption..
    Sorry to be conspiracy guy but well just because I’m paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t following me.

  • Celts Fan

    @rapTOr and Lake Fan – you don’t have to read shit. You don’t wanna read it, don’t click the link jackass. Otherwise, it’s a damn good reason to question how a team with one close-to-elite guy (Rondo) and 3 HOFers that are clearly on the downside of their career, that were 12 min away from a chip, can rebound and what they need to do to get back.

    @Three Stacks – way to win with class buddy. You wonder why people think LA fans are jackasses (I know why the hate us too.) Go put on your sunglasses $100 Ed Hardy shirt and flip over more cars.

    @Soul Jax – lots to get to there. First, no way KG’s the best 4 ever. That list goes: Timmy, McHale, then either him or Barkley, but no way he’s higher than 3, and I LOVE the guy. Also, there were some shitty calls there, but the refs didn’t cost us anything. The Lakers were more aggressive and most of the fouls were legit. I thought the refs weren’t bad (though I wish they’d just let ‘em play more in the 4th.) The FT #s look bad, but remember, we had to intentionally foul a lot of that last minute, which spiked their total way up as we were trying to come back. The way they played in the first half, we shoulda been up by 20. Our lack of rebounding, ball movement, and shooting (thanks again Ray) cost us a chip. Nothing else.

    a few more points in addition to my shit on post 7.
    1. Pierce wants to retire here, he’s said as much and is the face of the franchise. HE’s mentioned Reggie Miller too as a guy he wants to be compared to (not their game, just their being synonomous w/ one team their entire career.) He’s here for good.
    2. Ray’s said he wants to retire here too, he loves it here, it’s close to home, and he’s got a good routine w/ the Drs. for his kid’s diabetes. He knows and has said that he needs to take a HUGE paycut. The real question is, would he be ok transitioning to a 6th man role if we can ever find a backup wing that’s actually worth a damn offensively.
    3. DRAFT DASAUN BUTLER IN THE 2ND ROUND. He woulda been who I wanted at 19 before he blew out his knee. He has the highest upside of anyone we could get in the late 2nd (from here anyway, I don’t wanna stash someone overseas for 3 years) and figures to go undrafted. Unless someone else slips, why not take a flyer on a guy w/ 1st round talent that could be the eventual replacement for The Truth and could provide good bench depth by the 2nd half of the season (reports are he’ll be ready to play again by training camp, so figure, conservatively, he shakes off the rust by the time we flip the calendar to 2011.)

  • Celts Fan

    One other HUGE potential thing: If Pierce opts out, we can sign a 2nd tier FA (meaning anyone not named LeBron, Dwyane, or Chris) for around $10M per if they’d take a little less to play for a chip. We’d still have his, TA’s, and Ray’s Bird Rights to resign them and go over the cap, long as we signed that FA first. If we could convince Joe Johnson to take a little less to come back here and bring Ray off the bench, I mean, wow… That’s a pipe-dream, but it would be sexy as fuck

  • KennySeagle, Emperor of the North

    this team heads 2 AARP teritory…. u play out wut u can next yr…. pierce aint likely going no where…. the future is rondo: u build the next emergeing corps around him…. capisci????

    ANY QUESTIONS?

  • josh

    Nice to finally see people talking with some sense.The Celtics still have a good chance of being right back in it again next season.Ray Allen, and Pierce arent going anywhere until maybe 2012 when Garnett becomes a free agent.Rondo is only going to get better, dont think we need to keep Robinson, but Tony Allen is a must he is a beast on the defensive end and knows where to be when they get out and run plus he dosent turn the ball over alot.Nice to see someone mention Kyle Korver, I have been hoping that Boston would try to get him.Korver fought hard for the Jazz in the playoffs, and could play the 2 or 3 spot.J.J Redick would be a good add especially with Ray Allen there to show him what being a shooter in the NBA is about, and lets not forget how well he guarded Kobe in the 2009 Finals.We got a good backup for Rondo with Avery, he can guard anyone at the 1 or 2 spot, and he can hold on to the ball.Should have got Brian Zoubek for this summer but Artisom Parakhouski should help out, and maybe Harangody will be ready to play when the season starts I just dont think he is ready for the NBA yet.Ainge is a mastermind, and he wont let us down.

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