A little bit of perspective

So the plan on draft night was to provide an update to this blog after much of the hullabaloo of the evening simmah’d down… likely culminating in the acquisition of a certain tattooed little fella. As of July 22nd at 11:09pm… this still has not happened, but this blogger isn’t going to wait any longer.

Allen Iverson may ultimately become a member of the Boston Celtics, perhaps after the 60 day waiting period following the Telfair/Ratliff trade or maybe even just prior to the start of training camp. Either way, the deal isn’t dead and won’t be until Ainge’s thirst for The Answer in Boston has been quenched or Billy King elects to make a bad deal with some other team in the NBA. As Stephen A. Smith likes to say the bottom line is… Allen Iverson will most likely not return to Philadelphia as a Sixer. I’m just not sure where he will end up, but I do see the Celtics with a better than 50/50 shot of reeling in the former Georgetown product.

I suppose the question most Celtics fans rattle around in their heads is: Are we really any better now, or are we looking forward to another 33 win year? Is this something the fans of the Celtics are prepared for? As the team limped down the stretch like Lt. Dan at Forrest’s wedding, fans and media seemed somewhat unified in their belief that the honeymoon period is now over for Danny Ainge and his collection of young talent. Some four years into this building process the wins have steadily decreased, while the amount of not-ready-for-primetime players have increased. Even Paul Pierce, as recently as last week, renewed his calls to acquire more veteran talent to improve this team immediately, and even Raef LaFrentz, the only veteran not named Pierce to contribute last season, was moved in the off season. As Rick Majerus once said, Danny Ainge is building one hell of an NCAA Championship squad, and Ainge himself may be coming around to the idea that young talent will have to be moved to improve this team.

Does this mean the Ainge era in Boston has been a failure?

Nope.

When Danny came to Boston he took control of a roster that save Pierce, would be considered a downgrade to Dennis Johnson’s D League Austin Toros. Thank goodness the Bruno Sundov’s and Kedrick Brown’s are not walking through that door, and in their place Ainge has the finest collection of young talent in the NBA. Of course that hasn’t translated into wins, but that shouldn’t be much of a surprise. While Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, and Josh Howard turned heads after their performances running deep into the playoffs, each of those players are on largely veteran rosters with players who are highly capable and know how to win. On an individual basis, it is easier for a player to develop when his teammates know all the tricks of the trade and have the basketball knowledge to make up for any weaknesses in a younger player’s game. The 2006 Celtics were largely a group of young players who are still trying to find their own roles in the NBA, let alone where they fit within the team concept. Those two factors combine to make it very difficult to win basketball games night in and night out.

Who is a valid comparison? The Chicago Bulls probably best resemble the current Celtics squad, but not the 2007 version, rather their team of 3 years ago. At that time, the Bulls had a strong finish to their season, led largely by younger players, and still possessed a pair of high draft picks (which turned into Luol Deng and Ben Gordon). Still, the start of the 2005 Bulls season was disappointing at best to the point that coach Bill Cartwright was fired and replaced by Scott Skiles. The preseason breakthrough favorite was now a team of young players who would never get it and likely should be broken up. Now, just two seasons later, the Bulls are a threat to be among the top 4 teams in the Eastern Conference, were able to draft one of the top prospects available (Tyrus Thomas), and finally signed the top free agent on the market (Ben Wallace) to a long term contract. It’s fair to say that the Bulls aren’t all that far removed from where the Celtics are now, but they were able to build upon some of their young talent or trade it to acquire more talent. Certainly John Paxson was lucky to be able to swindle a pair of certain top 3 lottery picks from Isiah Thomas for Eddy Curry, but plenty of teams have screwed up top draft picks. Hell, Elgin Baylor has made a career out of it, but Paxson was smart enough to make the right picks and deals that Chicago needed.

The key for the Celtics is exactly how they get from where they are to where Chicago is now. That is, being on the precipice of being a contending team in the NBA. Unlike the Bulls, the C’s have drafted a number of players needing a great deal of help developing into NBA talents. Jefferson, Green, and Perkins all came to Boston incredibly raw, and needing a tremendous amount of time and energy to even become adequate players in the pros. Never mind that those three have now been joined by seven other young players all in different stages of development. On the other end of the spectrum you have Delonte West and Ryan Gomes who starred at NCAA programs, and show the obvious amount of polish one should have after devoting years to the college game. The challenge for Doc Rivers is to make each of these 10 players as good as they can be, and attempt to fold the talents of this group into the needs of a winning basketball team. Which for Bill Cartwright and numerous other coaches before him, ultimately led to their firing.

What fans must prepare themselves for is the nearly imminent trade, or collection of trades, that move a number of these younger players to parts unknown and help build a winning basketball team in Boston. Somehow many fans have become fixated on the idea of developing the younger players and seeing that group win together as they grow. What these fans seem to forget is the first part of what Ainge said when he took over the Celtics basketball operations. Ainge, first and foremost, said he needed to acquire “chips” or assets that he can use to build a winning team. The 2003 Celtics were devoid of many of these chips, aside from Pierce and a deeply devalued Antoine Walker, therefore Ainge felt the best way to build up these chips came in the draft which is the part of the convsersation that everyone rememberts. In retrospect, Danny was absolutely right, but that is due in no small part to his solid track record in the draft despite a lack of high lottery draft picks. Nevertheless, Ainge now has the chips to move, and the ability to make deals for top level talent to pair with Paul Pierce… something that hadn’t been possible in a long, long time. This isn’t to suggest that the young players will not pan out, but financially it is impossible to re-sign 10 players to long term contracts and give each the time and attention needed to fully develop them. If each player can be traded when their value is highest, then the team can get the maximum value with the result being a much more talented team. The problem for fans (including this one) who understand that the moves are coming is that we do not know when, for whom, or who the players who may be sent out will be. We only know that a deal is coming. Rather than worry about the specifics, fans should only hope that Danny Ainge can strike a deal as well as he has been able to find talent in the draft.

Fiddles and Diddles…

●If you aren’t rooting for Leon Powe to succeed, you’re a commie bastard.

●Telfair may end up being a fine player for the Celtics, but consider this my confirmation for a spot on the Rajin’ Rajon bandwagon. I have yet to see a copy of the VSL games as the heartless bastards at Adelphia don’t feel it is necessary to carry NBA TV, but I have a sense that like Luol Deng, Rondo will be a better pro than a collegian. Rondo’s absurd athleticism should allow him to do many of the same things Marcus Banks could do defensively, but with better rebounding and a much better idea of a team concept offensively.

●Can someone… FOR THE LOVE OF GOD stop it with this Randy Foye crap? Randy Foye was NEVER going to be a member of the Boston Celtics, yet at this very second I am listening to one of WEEI’s informed callers letting the Dale & Holley show know that he can’t understand why Foye was “traded away”. Perhaps someone… ANYONE… can put in their widely read and respected (Mr. Bulpett, please pick up the white courtesy phone) the details of Portland-Minnesota deal and how Ainge’s decision was actually between Brandon Roy and moving Raef LaFrentz’s contract and picking up the pure point guard fans have been clamoring for. Roy would have been great, but where does the guy play with Pierce, Wally, Allen, Green, and West also on the roster? This isn’t passing on Jordan because you have Drexler here…