Full Court Press: 8/4/05 A Dog Days Dispatch

By Jon Duke
August 4, 2004

My what a summer it hasn稚 been.

After a tremendously successful draft, the Celtics have largely sat on the sidelines while David Stern and NBA Player Association chief Billy Hunter played footsie over the details in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement between the players and owners. Over the past month such luminaries as Zaza Pachulia and Celtic message board favorite Saras Jaskevicius have found homes across the NBA. Celtics fans hoping for a dramatic overhaul of the roster, in the aftermath of a disappointing playoff defeat to Indiana, have been left empty handed.

The only bright spot, and I mean 澱right� spot, is the signing of former New Jersey Net Brian Scalabrine. 填nderwhelming� may not completely cover the crestfallen view of those who pledge allegiance to the green and white, but at least Ainge signed a player who will never be confused with the effortless Mark Blount. (By effortless, I mean utterly and completely without any interest in breaking a sweat) Scalabrine does a lot of things well, but none that could be considered outstanding or very good. Rather, Scalabrine has that intangible high basketball IQ that Ainge and Doc have been calling for since the Celtics dismissal at the hands of the Pacers. Was this need so great that the Celtics needed to give the potentially 10th man in the rotation $15 million over 5 years (or $11 million over 4 years with a option for the 5th year if you believe the Columnist Formally Known as the Boston Sports Guy)? I知 still not sure, but with the departure of Antoine Walker (more on that later) the Celtics brass are counting on Scalabrine to keep the ball moving, stretch the floor, and attempt to instill a solid work ethic in the younger players on the roster. So long as no one is expecting Scalabrine to make a run at the 6th Man award in 2006, he could be an important role player as this team grows together.

Perhaps the biggest sign the Celtics are turning their focus toward the future came with the sign and trade of former Celtics captain, Antoine Walker. Upon Walker痴 initial return to Boston the Celtics rattled off 11 wins within his first 12 games, and Antoine displayed the type of game Celtics fans had been clamoring for since being drafted by ML Carr in 1996. It was less wiggle, and more bump and bang in the post. Fewer errant three pointers, and more put backs off of offensive rebounds. But, as Walker became more comfortable with his new team, ball movement slowed and the team struggled to regain the form they showed after the Walker acquisition. Thus, Ainge had a very difficult decision re-sign Walker and retain a sorely needed veteran presence on the NBA’s youngest team, or cut bait and see where the Celtics can go with 20 year old Al Jefferson leading the way. It is certainly a gamble, but locking up Antoine Walker for $6-7 million for the next four or five years would be a serious impediment in the development of Jefferson. Ainge knows that Walker was the future while Jefferson is the future. But, by letting Antoine go, the Celtics were the beneficiaries of some very nice 田hips� for future moves including a pair of second round picks, a $5.5 million trade exception, and the rights to hard nosed Spanish big man Alberto Miralles (described as a bigger version of Eduardo Najera). Given the need to match player salaries for teams who wish to trade and are also over the salary cap, a $5.5 million trade exception would allow the Celtics to conduct a deal similar to what New Jersey did to acquire Shareef Abdur-Rahim (sending out only a pick for an All Star at a reasonable salary), in addition to potentially three young players. (Miralles and the two second round picks)

So, here we sit. Gary Payton is the only remaining Celtic free agent, but given Ainge痴 postseason comments it would seem more likely to see Gary Puckett (with or without the Union Gap) running the Celtics offense than 典he Glove�. Which means that, at this point, Doc will be handing the keys over to Delonte West or Marcus Banks. Not the most comforting thought for most Celtics fans, but from this Barcalounger it doesn稚 seem to be the drop off that some are portraying. Though he started the season strong, Payton痴 game withered as the season progressed to the point that both West and Banks were defending circles around the future Hall of Famer. Not to mention that even Banks made solid progress down the stretch in running the offense and being a consistent contributor on the floor. That said, Ainge has admitted that he plans to use the low level exception of $1.6 million to sign a veteran point guard for this roster. Names such as Brevin Knight, Darrell Armstrong, and Dan Dickau have been listed as potential targets for the Celtics, though it is still unknown whether they would accept a deal at that price. And, of course there is the unknown of Orien Greene, the Celtics last second round pick, who Ainge thinks of quite highly despite missing the entire summer league due to injury. Barring a trade, which is highly possible particularly with Banks, the Celtics will enter training camp with a number of questions at point guard. My guess is that the starter will be whoever wants it most, and I don稚 doubt Delonte West will ultimate be victorious.

Another area of interest surrounds exactly how the Celtics will deal with their apparent glut of players who can play on the wing. With playing time divided amongst Paul Pierce, Ricky Davis, Tony Allen, Justin Reed, and Ryan Gomes; Doc Rivers has an incredibly difficult job ahead to find roles and consistent time for these players. Obviously Pierce and Davis will receive the bulk of the playing time, but the unexpected summer league performances of Reed and Gomes are certainly making Doc痴 decision harder. However, Reed and Gomes seem to be able to slide to the power forward position as well, which may give Doc more flexibility when he wishes to go with a smaller lineup. Though Celtics fans didn稚 see much of Reed last year, this summer Justin Reed has been much quicker and displayed a solid outside shot in addition to his tight defense and gritty play. Were it not for the drafting of Ryan Gomes, it wouldn稚 be a stretch to anoint Reed as the 釘ig 3� Ainge had talked about over the past year. Yet, Gomes was equally impressive and showed a nice nose for the ball against taller opponents. Many NBA drafniks, including this one, questioned whether Gomes� size would hinder his ability to perform in the post. But, nothing I致e seen in watching tapes of summer league lead me to believe he won稚 be able to duplicate this effort in the regular season. As noteworthy to me as Gomes continuing abilities in the post is his perimeter shooting and lateral quickness. Guarding NBA small forwards like Ricky Davis isn稚 the easiest thing in the world, but coaches can稚 play plodders who can稚 remotely keep up on defense. Gomes isn稚 the quickest guy on the floor, but his high basketball IQ and strong fundamentals keep him in front of his opponent. That痴 all a coach can ask for.

With all these promising players, and I haven稚 even mentioned Gerald Green or Kendrick Perkins, how can Bill Simmons suggest that the Celtics are looking like a 25 win team in his ESPN.com column? I知 not sure, but Bill places a lot of emphasis on the mental approach of Paul Pierce. For all the warts in Pierce痴 game, and are there ever warts, one thing that Paul Pierce has never been questioned for is his competitive nature. Simmons drew a parallel with Vince Carter and how his poisonous attitude destroyed the Raptors season last year, but these two guys aren稚 even remotely similar. Remember, it was Vince Carter who traveled to North Carolina to pick up his degree the same day the Raptors faced a key game in the 2001 Playoffs. It was Vince Carter who spent three years taking jump shots, fearful to driving to the hoop and becoming injured. Pierce, on the other hand, is a tremendous competitor who values winning higher than Slam Dunk championships or Nike endorsement contracts. Vince Carter, Paul Pierce is not.

However, Pierce cannot like the departure of Antoine Walker, and he must see that his window of winning a championship during his current contract is closing quickly. When Danny Ainge and Pierce were due to meet in Las Vegas, where Pierce has a home and Ainge was in town watching the summer league, it was Pierce who reported blew off Ainge and ignored his requests to meet. And this was before the team cut ties with Antoine Walker. How must the Celtics captain feel now? Personally, and this is no more than a hunch, I believe Pierce has requested to be traded. Pierce dined with Celtics owners Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca a couple weeks before the draft, and while Wyc denied that Pierce requested a trade at that time he also declined to describe the discussion in any detail. Couple this with numerous unnamed sources claiming that Pierce has requested to be traded, and seemingly no communication between Pierce and Ainge since season痴 end, it doesn稚 take a genius to connect the dots. In return for attempting to fill Pierce痴 request, the team no doubt demanded that Pierce maintain silent regarding these demands or it could severely limit the compensation the Celtics should receive in trade for Paul Pierce. Certainly, the Vince Carter debacle in Toronto is what all parties involved want to avoid, but the pressure of losing can do funny things to competitive people. Personally, I would much prefer Paul Pierce 堵et it� and buy into what Ainge and Rivers are trying to do, but after three summers of hoping that Pierce will finally learn how to share the basketball in the coming season, I知 pretty well convinced that it is unlikely that this leopard痴 spots will change to a tiger痴 stripes.

But for Bill, let me say this: Even with Paul Pierce being a petulant primadona this Celtics team will top 35 wins. Remember the Celtics were consistently above .500 before Antoine arrived, and using that as a guide it痴 fair to say that the drop off with the loss of Payton will not be more than 16 wins. The C痴 could use a veteran presence in the point guard mix, but failing other trades this team should not be penciled into a slot in Secaucus, NJ for the 2006 NBA Draft Lottery. Hell, the Celtics are the defending Atlantic Division champs, and while their division rivals have improved none are certain to leapfrog into the NBA elite. Stay off the hard-core back pain meds, and have a Starbucks mochachocolatteventigreenbanananut coffee on me.