2013 Offseason Report: Boston Celtics

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/23250881/2013-offseason-report-boston-celtics


2013 Offseason Report: Boston Celtics
By Royce Young | NBA writer
August 21, 2013 12:57 pm ET
 
.

How they finished 2013

Everything changed for the Celtics Jan. 28. On a seemingly innocent play, point guard Rajon Rondo tore his ACL. At that point, the team's season was effectively over.

So we thought. Except the Celtics won six straight games after Rondo's injury and took a 21-23 record to 34-27. They were playing better without their star point guard, and it was confusing everyone. There was chatter that the Celtics were better without Rondo, that the ball moved better, that they played more as a team.


All of that was fine logic, but the Celtics stumbled into the postseason finishing 41-40 (they only played 81 games last season), and were mostly wiped away by the Knicks in six games. And the common theme during that series was, "Man, the Celtics could probably really use Rajon Rondo right now."

The way 2012-13 crumbled for the Celtics was the final punctuation of the message that's been on the wall for a few years now. It's been painfully obvious that the Big 3 era was dying, or maybe even dead, and last season stamped it.

Needs entering the offseason

In terms of need, the Celtics had the same choice to make they've had the last three seasons. Try and retool and restock and give it one more go, or finally just blow it all up? The improbable 2012 run that had the Celtics lose in seven games to the Heat created an illusion that the team needed one more chance, and when last season imploded the way it did, Danny Ainge finally got the message.

So the real need was to let it all go. A difficult exercise because of loyalties and emotions, but a necessary one.

Free agency and trades

Goodbye, ubuntu.

A couple weeks before free agency opened and days prior to the draft, the Celtics pulled the plug. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry to the Nets for Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans and three future first-round picks.

Just like that. Pierce, who has been as Celtic as a Celtic could be, was whisked away to Brooklyn unceremoniously. Garnett, who helped turn Boston basketball around, was gone. And finally Doc Rivers, the creator of the brotherhood, fled town to the Clippers in exchange for a 2015 first-rounder.


The trades had to happen. Again, for the Celtics it's been about when, not if. The rebuild was coming at some point, despite Ainge trying to put it off for seasons at a time. But this was the time to do it, which only left the question: Did the Celtics pick the right deal?

There was a lot of rumored talk between the Clippers and Celtics that would've sent Garnett to Los Angeles to bring back DeAndre Jordan. Is getting Wallace and his ugly remaining contract -- three years, $30 million -- with Humphries' expiring deal and picks enough?

I say yes. Look at it this way: The Celtics have three first-round picks in 2014, two in 2015, two in 2016, two in 2017 and two in 2018. Will they be high lottery selections to pick the next LeBron or Durant? Who knows? But those are valuable assets in the NBA, useful in rebuilding whether you use them, or flip them for something else.

Break-ups aren't easy. But the Celtics wisely took Jerry's advice: Like a band-aid, right off.

(Oh, and the Celtics also traded Fab Melo to the Grizzlies for Donte Greene. So, yeah.)

The draft

The Celtics sat 16th in the draft, but moved up to No. 13 to select Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk. All of a sudden, this pick had a new perspective with it. Instead of being a young player to groom behind Garnett, now the Celtics were taking someone that needs to be something. They needed a player with both immediate ability and upside. They needed a player that filled a current and future need, while still trying to get the most talent for the pick.

Olynyk seems like as close to all that as they could've gotten. He's a supremely gifted offensive seven-footer, with range to the 3-point line and great touch and feel around the rim. He's a soft defender and not a great rebounder, but the Celtics can work on that.

And if his Summer League performance is any indication, the Celtics might've gotten a steal. Olynyk dominated in Orlando, using his unique blend of size and skill to finish around the rim and score in midrange situations. Is he a building block piece? Probably not. But with Rondo running point for him and some defensive/rebounding help alongside him, he could certainly be a high quality NBA center.

Overall grade and accomplishments: B+

I haven't even talked about the best move the Celtics made this offseason. They hired Brad Stevens as Doc Rivers' replacement. I'm already on record as loving the move, but here are the cliff notes: It's a low-risk, high reward situation. If Stevens doesn't work out, the Celtics get better draft picks. If he does work out, they have a bright young coach to cultivate a youthful, developing roster.

The question is if he can gel with Rondo. Rondo is an enigma wrapped in a riddle of a player, a unique blend of talent, emotion and crazy. He's a brilliant player who has developed a reputation for needing a little bit of coddling. Doc Rivers knew how to handle him and work with him. Will Stevens? That question will likely have answers soon, and could determine the next step Ainge and the Celtics make. Is Rondo part of the long-term future? Is he considered their building block? If Stevens and Rondo clash, who goes?

Overall, though, the Celtics accomplished a lot of necessary goals. They moved on from the Big 3 era, and they did it by pulling in a pretty good haul of assets. Remember: Garnett is 37 and Pierce is 35. It's not like these guys had extreme amounts of trade value. To pull three future first-rounders out of them is pretty good. Having to take Wallace's contract back wasn't great, but look around the league and ask yourself: Who else would've wanted both Garnett and Pierce, and who could've given more than the Nets? The Nets are desperate and prime fodder to exploit because of their thirst. They wanted Garnett and Pierce desperately and weren't going to let them slip. So they paid a steep price, and probably one bigger than anyone else would've paid.

And then there's Rivers. He was the heart and soul of the organization for a decade, but off he goes to avoid rebuilding. His choice, his wishes. He wants to contend. He doesn't want to rot in the lottery. He's threatened retirement the past few seasons, dangling it over the Celtics' head like an anvil. But instead of calling his bluff and making him do it, the Celtics "traded" him for a future first-round pick, while also unloading his bloated $24 million contract. Money saved, an asset acquired. Not bad at all.

Hard to really get excited about an offseason that saw downgrades all over and trades made with 2016 in mind, but the Celtics did well in trying to move on from the Big 3 and still recoup talent and assets. There's a quality young core in place with Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger and possibly Olynyk. Ainge has the flexibility to add to it and maybe turn this thing around sooner than later. It's one big step back to hopefully take two big leaps forward.





bob
MY NOTE:  Finally, a national writer who grades this all by seeing past this season.  It still blows my mind a bit when I remember we have 9 first-round picks in the next 5 years.  That's a lot of trading chips for Trader Danny that lets us upgrade what we're getting in a trade while still making the numbers fit. Also, because we have so many of them, we can still draft some first round youth despite trading half of them away for superior veteran talent. He mentions the "quality young core" in the last paragraph. The fact is that only Gerald Wallace and "this year only" Keith Bogans are over 30. Are all the young players "core"? Maybe not, Courtney Lee and Bass may or may not be considered that, but they're not chopped liver neither.

.

Bob,

Isn't it funny that, when a writer feels pretty good about the Celtics' transition progress to date, we don't have a lot of problem with his credibility? But, coincidences be damned, I think he has pretty much put his finger on it. Some strong steps in the right direction, with assets for more strong steps in the near-future.

I know this will seem like heresy, especially in its timing. But I'm extremely interested in what the absence of Paul Pierce, coupled with more of a motion offense, may mean in the ability of the team to develop a nice smooth rhythm. Ever since the championship year, I've felt their halfcourt offense was sort of herky jerky, which too often led to it bogging down and jumpers by default. Yes, it was good enough to win a championship; but I'd credit the defense a whole lot more. And the half court offense didn't get better with the passage of time; it got worse.

For the moment, I'll withhold comment on the transition game. I'll just say that I'm really looking forward to seeing Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green play together for (hopefully) an entire season. I really believe Jeff Green is Worthy (capital "W" intentional) of some dynamic play on the wing.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob,

Isn't it funny that, when a writer feels pretty good about the Celtics' transition progress to date, we don't have a lot of problem with his credibility?  But, coincidences be damned, I think he has pretty much put his finger on it.  Some strong steps in the right direction, with assets for more strong steps in the near-future.

I know this will seem like heresy, especially in its timing.  But I'm extremely interested in what the absence of Paul Pierce, coupled with more of a motion offense, may mean in the ability of the team to develop a nice smooth rhythm.  Ever since the championship year, I've felt their halfcourt offense was sort of herky jerky, which too often led to it bogging down and jumpers by default.  Yes, it was good enough to win a championship; but I'd credit the defense a whole lot more.  And the half court offense didn't get better with the passage of time; it got worse.

For the moment, I'll withhold comment on the transition game.  I'll just say that I'm really looking forward to seeing Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green play together for (hopefully) an entire season.  I really believe Jeff Green is Worthy (capital "W" intentional) of some dynamic play on the wing.

Sam

sam,

Hardly coincidence at all. I'm very easy to get along with; just give me what I want, the way I want it, when I want it and I'm an absolute prince of a fella.

Once we were able to wrap our minds around the departure of Pierce and Garnett and what that meant to our short-term prospects (some were more eager and raring to go than others), focusing on what we had to work with in the mid-term future became easier.

Yes, we still have to wait to see exactly what we will get out of Brad Stevens and this team. We can reasonably assume that we won't truly see what that is until around the all-star break. Rondo will probably be out for November, and will need time to get his rhythm back. As he does that we'll have a better idea of what kind of chemistry we really have, since he is the straw that stirs the drink.

As far as his credibility goes, at least he's not a student, majoring in accounting and finance, who has been following Boston sports for 3 years. Royce Young is a regular NBA writer for CBS Sports. I can't even believe that Yahoo would actually think that was a good idea.


bob

.

Bob,
Thanks again.
Just a couple of "nit-picks".
I'd put the overall grade at solid A. DA did a very good job considering what he had at the end of the season and where and with what he's now.
Also, he, Royce Young, mentioned 11 1st round picks. You said 9. I'm confused.

AK

sinus,

http://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/DraftTrades/Future/Celtics.htm


This is a little confusing, especially next year with the Hawks/Nets thing, but it looks like 9.  That is also the same number I've been hearing a lot.

Our own 5 picks over the next 5 years, the 3 from Brooklyn in the PP/KG/JT trade and the 1 from the Clips for Doc = 9.


bob


.

The article  touches many of our thoughts but it would be pretty hard to give out a grade until the test is completed.

Presumably the assets will provide a quicker path back to respectability.  As we know 1 or 2 additions can change the quality of a basketball team.

There are still a lot of unanswered questions for us to ponder.  Here are a few that come to mind.

Will Rondo be fully recovered from his ACL surgery?

Will Danny make another move to sure up the center and/or the backup PG spots?

Will danny reduce the logjam at the 4?

Will coach Stevens be flexible enough to transition away from his slow down methodical offense?  His motion offense did not produce a shot anytime soon.  Does he know how an uptempo offense works?

Will Sully be better then he was as a rookie last year?

Can Jeff Green replicate his late season and playoff performance for an entire season?

Can Avery Bradley become a more productive 2 offensively?

Will Courtney Lee earn his $5 + million this year.

Is Gerald Wallace a guy that can still help a team a a role player?

Will Hump still be on this team after the trading dealine?

Can KO score in double figure this year to cover some of the loss of KG's offense?


That's 11 quesdtions and I could go on but note that I did not mention whether Stevens and Rondo can get alone because that is a bullsh-t question.

dboss

Dboss,
I graded it based on the current status and my extrapolation of it.
As for you questions, I can answer some of them:
1 - yes
2 - ?
3 - yes
4 - ?
5 - yes
6 - yes
7 - yes
8 - ?
9 - depends on the team
10 - no
11 - yes
If the reality happens to be different you can always blame me  

AK

Ok Sinus

So I want to change all of my cans to wills

Ha...

Dboss

Bob, Thanks for your daily sustenance during the annual drought; this is the first place I go when I boot up the laptop! I agree, Royce Young seems on target as much as anyone can be with predictions. In other words, makes sense to me.
dboss, Good questions! And here's what I see in my crystal ball:

Will Rondo be fully recovered from his ACL surgery? Eventually back to 98 percent, I'd guess, but I'll defer to Worcester.
Will Danny make another move to shore up the center and/or the backup PG spots? Yes.

Will danny reduce the logjam at the 4? Absolutely, but he may want to see what we have, first.

Will coach Stevens be flexible enough to transition away from his slow down methodical offense? His motion offense did not produce a shot anytime soon. Does he know how an uptempo offense works? I think he has the brains to evolve and succeed.

Will Sully be better then he was as a rookie last year? Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning!
Can Jeff Green replicate his late season and playoff performance for an entire season? I think he'll be better than Pierce this next campaign.

Can Avery Bradley become a more productive 2 offensively? No one missed Rondo more than Bradley, so if RR returns to form, Bradley will look far better.

Will Courtney Lee earn his $5 + million this year. No, maybe $4 million

Is Gerald Wallace a guy that can still help a team as a role player? Don't know his game well enough.

Will Hump still be on this team after the trading deadline? Not if we can find a taker.

Can KO score in double figure this year to cover some of the loss of KG's offense? Yes; it's his D that's suspect. I hope he's in the weight room now, also working on lateral quickness because he could play 4 positions if he were 20 percent stronger and quicker. With a strong defensive center, I can see him at the 3, Sully at 4, Green at 2 and RR at point, at stages of some games.