Lean Pickings On Menu For Celts

BOSTON HAROLD

By Steve Bulpett / Celtics Beat

season, and it was hard not to appreciate the seamless marriage of modern technology and Austin Powers’ bedroom.

And there amid the overstated franchise branding was something that made us come within an inch of laughing all over the club’s logo on the floor.

On each player’s locker cabinet was a decal of the NBA championship trophy. When you consider the Knicks, despite the presence of big money stars, had zero chance of touching the actual hardware this season, we figured the stickers were rather akin to sportwriters having Jessica Biel posters in their rooms.


Then again, as poet Robert Browning so eloquently wrote, “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

It is through this latter prism that we view the Celtics [team stats]’ stroll into the free agent market this summer. There are some basketball Jessicas on the shelves but, for varying reasons, most if not all are up too high for the C’s — even if Danny Ainge stands on Greg Stiemsma’s shoulders.

Prior to the season, teams were trying to make deals or get in position to make a run at one of the two marquee potential free agents, Dwight Howard and Deron Williams, who could put themselves up for bid by opting out of the last year of their contracts.

Since then, Howard went Britney Spears schizo and took himself off the market (while, in a related move, taking his coach off the bench). Believe it or not, there were some in the Celtics organization who were harboring hope they could convince the Orlando big man to get free and come here, but now any such dreams rest on the new Magic GM deciding on an extreme makeover.

Meanwhile, the Nets — the Brooklyn Nets, thank you very much — are doing everything in their power to entice Williams to skip the opt-out and sign a long-term deal. Among that which the club has considered by way of team improvement is going after Kevin Garnett. (Good luck with that one.)

But, in Celtics terms, there is really nothing up this free agent tree for a team that already has a Rajon Rondo [stats].

As far as major free agents worthy of the salary cap space the Celts could make available, there is really nothing of the unrestricted variety to set Green hearts aflutter.

In other words, Ainge knows his best move this summer is watching the club’s wallet to make sure it doesn’t overspend for a questionable return.

That leaves the Celtics to gaze at the restricted free agents, but the most attractive of those come with the caveat that their present teams certainly won’t be letting them go for no return. The ability of those clubs to match any offer their guys receive would mean interested teams would have to concoct a trade that satisfies the current holder.

So while Roy Hibbert is technically available, and it sure would be nice for the Celts to acquire a young big man who can defend the paint and is improving steadily with his offense, the chances of the Pacers parting with such an asset are nil.

The Hornets might be more willing to listen to offers for restricted free agent Eric Gordon, but the shooting guard probably showed enough after his return from knee surgery to make his asking price high.

There are others in the restricted category who could be of interest to the Celtics, people like Portland’s Nicolas Batum and Chicago’s Omer Asik, but it’s important to remember the locals must still deal with their own crew of free agents.

While Stiemsma is restricted, there are big decisions to be made — on both sides of the equation — regarding Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Also, the Celts pulled back from their qualifying offer to Jeff Green, meaning he too is unrestricted. Brandon Bass will be the same when he opts out of the $4 million-plus he could have for next season.



Ainge and company also have to make an important call on Mickael Pietrus and decide whether Keyon Dooling, Chris Wilcox, Marquis Daniels, Ryan Hollins and Sasha Pavlovic are worth trying to retain.

It is highly unlikely the Celtics [team stats] will be able to find any free agent elixirs this summer. That leaves their immediate fate tied to what they can do with their two first-round draft picks and what their newfound flexibility could mean for them in trade talks both pre- and post-draft.

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