Celts’ future begins with current roster

Boston Herald

By Mark Murphy

At one stage, midway through the Eastern Conference finals, Doc Rivers was asked why his team didn’t practice.

“We’re just too old — tired, old and banged up,” the Celtics [team stats] coach said. “If I have a choice between the legs and the brains, I’m going to take the legs every single time. We need those. I don’t know what I could accomplish, honestly, by bringing them in. Most would come in because they’re in the trainer’s room with treatment.

“It says we have to do whatever we need to do. Every team is individual, and I don’t think we’ve had a practice since the Atlanta series. It’s not by choice. It’s by need. It’s what we have.”


Now that the next phase of the Danny Ainge plan is about to kick in — the phase in which the contracts of all but five players come off the books — Rivers’ roster can’t help but get younger, even if Kevin Garnett is talked into returning for another season.

But the window also has changed slightly. Ainge might be inclined to bring back the old guys for another year, and target next summer’s free agent market, which suddenly is said to be more attractive than this summer’s star showcase.

The Celtics, after all, aren’t expected to even be in the room when the bidding for point guard Deron Williams starts, or when the Orlando Magic once again start taking offers for center Dwight Howard.

Part of the challenge, though, will involve sorting through who they have, and determining if any of those players fill a need.

Here’s a positional breakdown:

CENTER

(Degree of need: Serious) If Garnett returns instead of retiring or, more remotely, accepting another team’s offer, then the Celtics will only have the most immediate part of this need met. Greg Stiemsma, a restricted free agent, had a terrific rookie season. He also has to hope his foot trouble isn’t so chronic that it impacts the rest of his career. But the backup combination of Stiemsma and Ryan Hollins, another free agent, still left the Celtics thin when it was time to give Garnett a break. Chris Wilcox, before his season was truncated by heart surgery, actually played quality minutes and would probably be amenable to a call. Nenad Krstic’s contract with CSKA Moscow also has an NBA escape clause for next season, but he would cost at least mid-level exception money. Otherwise, the next step is a project center in the draft.

POWER FORWARD

(Degree of need: High) Brandon Bass, a restricted free agent, should field some interesting offers come July. But the Celtics need Bass and more. Though rookie JaJuan Johnson drifted off Rivers’ radar, the offensive part of his game is more developed than other matters like defense and physical strength. But Johnson projects as a shooting 4 who, like Bass, could stretch the floor. But Rivers has to be won over here. And then there’s the draft, which is allegedly deep in power forwards. It remains to be seen if any of them have Johnson’s skill. Sean Williams and Hollins, with his bull-in-a-china-shop game, can also slide in here.

SMALL FORWARD

(Degree of need: Low) The Celtics, presumably, will get business done with Jeff Green, and he can continue to blossom as Paul Pierce [stats]’s understudy. Mickael Pietrus wants to return, and it helps that Rivers is his biggest fan.

SHOOTING GUARD

(Degree of need: Medium) Based on last season, Avery Bradley should have this starting job nailed down for years to come. Hopefully his jumper continues to improve. Ray Allen’s return is questionable at best. He wants more security than the Celtics will probably be willing to offer. His recovery from Wednesday’s ankle surgery will also have many general managers asking questions. Allen recovered flawlessly from double ankle surgery in the summer of 2007, but he turns 37 next month. E’Twaun Moore is young, with a smooth delivery on his jumper. Like Johnson, his potential begs for more playing time next season. Still, this is a likely area where Ainge could land someone in a trade. He came close to dealing Allen for O.J. Mayo last year. Marquis Daniels and Sasha Pavlovic might have reached the end of the line on this team.

POINT GUARD

(Degree of need: Low) Rajon Rondo [stats] is under contract for the next four years, and the team is now his. Rivers believes Moore is a better point guard than Bradley. If the older elements of the team return, don’t be surprised if Keyon Dooling gets another call.

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I pretty much agree with this article, but there are a lot of "ifs" in it.

1. We're asked to consider that Bass will be in higher demand elsewhere than here, but we're expected to assume Jeff Green will be back here for whatever money we're willing to offer him? If Green's price is high, then the conclusion on the part about SF is flawed badly.

2. Doc thinks Moore is a better point guard than Bradley? Then our problems at pg are worse than stated here. Keyon Dooling doesn't run offenses well. He does other things well, like defend and hit 3s, but not floor generalship.

3. I don't agree with his conclusion that Sasha and Daniels are done here. One of them might stick, if Green comes back, because of the need for depth at wing. Putting Sasha or Daniels on LBJ isn't horrifying (not optimum, but they have size and some speed to handle him, at least as well as anybody can).

4. Yes, we need more height at 4. We need more beef at 4. No, I'm not just saying 4 because this is bullet #4. Hollins showed good energy, I really liked the way he defended high pick-and-rolls, but his offense is limited to alley oops. He's also not a really good interior defender, despite being 7'. Sean Williams might be a player of interest, @ 6'10" he has the length, but who knows what his game really is in Doc's system? His grade is clearly an "Incomplete".

Young, athletic wings are plentiful. Bigs are not, nor are talented PGs. I'm not comfortable with our depth at PG, from a floor generalship perspective, but if Doc and Danny are then we're going to be drafting BIG. The names that keep getting bounced around, again and again and again, for us are Andrew Nicholson of St. Bonny (6'8 1/2" w/o shoes, 234#), Fab Melo of Syracuse (6'10 3/4" w/o shoes, 255#) and Royce White of Iowa State (6'7 w/o shoes, 265#).

If I was going to guess, which is of course exactly what I am about to do, I would say our picks would be (assuming available):

1. Andrew Nicholson - a legit big, 4 years college, led his team, mature.
2. Royce White - a poor man's Charles Barkley in today's bigger body? TO-prone, but versatile. Some maturity issues, but he'd be on a veteran team.
3. Fab Melo - 7' w/shoes. Tons of issues but you can't teach size and we need some. His maturity issues make White's look like Sunday church.

bob


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bob


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