Celtics Have Plenty Of Questions For Next Season

[duncan228]

Celtics Have Plenty Of Questions For Next Season (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=tsn-celticshaveplentyofq)
SportingNews

In one locker room, the champagne was flowing. In the other, it was tears flowing. In the wake of their frustrating Game 7 loss, in which they held a 13-point second-half lead, the Celtics had little else to do but cry over spilled chances. Asked what the mood in the locker room was, Ray Allen said, “Tears. A lot of tears.”

For the Celtics, next year can’t get here fast enough—getting back on the floor is the only way to exorcise the Game 7 disappointment. But before that, the team has questions to answer.

Who will coach? Celtics players have openly pleaded with coach Doc Rivers to return for another season, and Rivers said he will take some time to mull the decision. But indications are that Rivers is leaning toward walking away—he has a son who is a senior basketball player at Indiana, a daughter who is a volleyball player at Florida and another son who is one of the country’s top high school players. Speculation has Kevin McHale, a good friend of team president Danny Ainge, as a possible Rivers replacement, but Celtics players don’t want to even think about that yet.

“Doc’s everything, man, everything,” Kevin Garnett said. “Everyone wants him back. That’s not even an issue. It’s just a matter of whether Doc wants to come back.”

Will they spend? As it stands, the Celtics have a payroll of about $63 million, which figures to be about $10 million over the salary cap. That’s a big problem, because that payroll covers just six players—Paul Pierce, Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis. The front office has a big decision to make, then. The Celtics made a run to The Finals this year, but whether they can make another such run is open for question.

Boston needs to sign another eight players or so, and has the 19th pick in the draft. If their current salary structure holds and they sign eight players at a very, very cheap average of $2 million, they will be well into luxury tax territory. There simply isn’t much money available, though, and with the so-called championship window closing, the spending might not be worth it.

What will happen to the bench? After watching Wallace struggle through the season, then hobble through the playoffs with a back injury, Rivers said he thought there was a good chance Wallace would retire. If that happens, the Celtics’ depth issues will worsen and ownership’s decision on how to approach the payroll and luxury tax will become more acute. Bringing back guys like Tony Allen and Nate Robinson will cost them, and if the Celtics want to bring in a quality sixth man, they would have to shell out money that they really don’t have.

Who will be the shooting guard? The Celtics were an old team for much of the season, and entering next season, they’ll be a year older. Garnett turned 34 in May, Allen will be 35 and Pierce will be 33. Pierce can opt out of his contract and get an extension this summer, which would help the team because it would reduce his immediate salary number ($21 million) and would give Pierce some long-term security. Garnett is signed for two more years, so his return is certain.

But Ray Allen is a different story. The Celtics clearly need to get younger, and because Allen is a free agent who seemed to wear out by the time The Finals came around, the logical thing to do would be to let Allen walk in free agency and find another shooting guard. They don’t have the cap space to pursue one of the top off guards on the market, but they could bring Allen back on a cheap contract and sign a cheap young shooter (such as Golden State’s Anthony Morrow) or a higher-risk player (Josh Howard, perhaps), with the goal of phasing Allen out.

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After falling short, Celtics face uncertainty (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-celticswrapup)
Brian Mahoney

[Giuseppe]

Rivers will be back.

Perkins will heal.

Ray Allen will sign.

Rondo will evolve.

They are our equal, and there is nobody behind the two us worth a tinker's dam.

[bostonguy]

This is the end of the road for the Celts. This was their last stand and they all know it. The window was 2-3 years tops once the KG trade was made in the summer of 2007. That time has passed. KG's and Sheed's deals expire in 2 years, Pierce/Perk have 1 year left, and Ray is a free agent. That is the plus side that the only long term contract they have left is Rondo. Everyone elses expires either summer 2011 or 2012. Even if they keep the team intact, the big 3 will be even older.

[21_Blessings]

Yeah they're fucked with TT leaving and probably Ray as well. And Rondo was exposed. Have fun building around a dude that doesn't even have to be defended in a half court set :lmao

[Giuseppe]

Yer nuts, Guy.

If Perkins doesn't miss the last two games, I'm booted and you're talkin' shit in here.

Get holt of yourself and act like somebody.

[21_Blessings]

If Perkins doesn't miss the last two games, I'm booted and you're talkin' shit in here.

:rolleyes

Sheed played better last night than Perk has in the entire playoffs.

[Cane]

Lots of talk about Sheed retiring.

It'll be interesting to see if Ray Allen will be pursued by Boston, that'll be a huge sign of whether or not they're still going all-in or if they try to rebuild.

They should basically try and replicate this past season's lucky strategy by finishing the regular season with health first, record second.

Perkins will likely be injured for a few months of the next season IIRC so that definitely doesn't help when it comes to managing KG's minutes. KG should look healthier though than he did for most of this season.

However as long as they're healthy I think they've got a fighting chance of being a contender. The East is filled with a bunch of ????'s too since ballclubs across that conference will be making huge changes to their roster. This could be good for a team like the Celtics to exploit since they already have a lot more of chemistry and experience with their teammates and system than basically all other teams in the East. They're also just an overall tough squad and I don't see anyone in the East challenging that quality.

[InK]

Celts have got one more try in them, specially if Sheed decides not to retire and takes it easy in the pastery this offseason.

[Giuseppe]

Wallace has two more years on his deal. He ain't walkin' away from those multi millions. No way.

[21_Blessings]

I don't see anyone in the East challenging that quality.

There will be probably be at least two, maybe three new contending teams in the East next year.

Boston needs to retool that roster immediately in order to stay competitive the next 5 years.

[Giuseppe]

There will be probably be at least two, maybe three new contending teams in the East next year.

Boston needs to retool that roster immediately in order to stay competitive the next 5 years.

We ain't sendin Fish if that's where this is headed, 21.

:toast

[Killakobe81]

Yer nuts, Guy.

If Perkins doesn't miss the last two games, I'm booted and you're talkin' shit in here.

Get holt of yourself and act like somebody.

MAYBE cully maybe i think we still win but man it would of been tough ...

[mavsfan1000]

The Celtics need to get deeper. They can make 1 more run if the starters don't have to play too much.

[Giuseppe]

MAYBE cully maybe i think we still win but man it would of been tough ...

I know, Killa.

I was just playing the melodramatic/devil's advocate card.

Woulda been damn dicey with Perkins upright. They would not have gone so easily into the night in the 4th quarter last evening.

Perkins is a winner.

[Ghazi]

I hate to put so much stock in one game... I thought if Celtics won last night they could keep this thing going. but it feels like a loss is a huge psychological blow even to a tough team like the Celtics.

For a bunch of old veterans to come up 1 game, 2-3 possessions short of a championship... really seems like it should take the wind out of the sails.

Rondo NEEDS to improve his shooting. He is excellent in every other area.

[Giuseppe]

But, Ghazi, you can't say that. Either they change or they don't. Winning or losing a Game 7 like last night should have absolutely no bearing on their future plans. None.

[duncan228]

Somber Celtics Went Out Like Champions (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/18/somber-celtics-went-out-like-champions/)
By Sam Amick

The celebration and the chaos surrounded them without making a sound.

It was quiet in the visitor's locker room at Staples Center on Thursday night, where one Boston Celtic after another was asked to discuss their own basketball death. They talked about the classic Game 7 in hushed tones and in a painful rotation -- Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, Kevin Garnett -- all reliving the Lakers' 83-79 championship survival. The floor was wet over here, too, but it wasn't because of champagne.

"There was a lot of crying in our locker room, a lot of people who care," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I don't think there was a dry eye. A lot of hugs. A lot of people feeling awful. That's a good thing. You know, that means everybody cared."

They went out like champions from beginning to end, these aging Hall of Famers and relentless reserves who came so close to pulling off such a memorable and unexpected feat. They unplugged the electricity in the building early, jumping out to a 10-point first quarter lead that ensured the tension among most of the 18,997 witnesses would not escape.

For a while there, they humiliated Kobe Bryant in his own house, the Lakers star looking rattled and inept as part of his team's 6 of 27 shooting start.

They finished with the same fight, the same belief that drove so many big shots down the stretch. Pierce's jumper over Ron Artest with 3:45 left, cutting the Lakers' lead to 70-66. Rasheed Wallace's crafty pass to Garnett for a dunk moments later. Wallace's rainbow three with 1:23 left over Bryant to keep the leprechaun from leaving. Allen's three from the left corner with 51 seconds left, one of the game's best shooters finally coming through after so many mystifying misses. Rondo's three with 16 seconds left to cut it to 81-79.

It could be said that it came down to one "what if?" scenario, this one having nothing to do with injured center Kendrick Perkins and the question of what his presence might have done. With 13 seconds left, Rondo's pesky arms jarred the ball loose at midcourt from Bryant, who won his fifth title despite his legendary poise betraying him at almost every turn.

The ball bounded toward the Celtics' basket in what looked to be a fast break opportunity and likely tie score, if not for the sideline that got in the way. It all came down to inches, the possession going back to the Lakers and Sasha Vujacic burying two free throws with 11 seconds left that ended it.

"It's disappointing," Allen said. "This probably is one of the hardest feelings I've felt in my lifetime. We're scratching and clawing, trying to do everything we could to pull this out. That's what probably hurt the most, just having the opportunity to win down the stretch (and it) didn't go our way."

Allen was the spokesman on that front. While Bryant was bailed out by Ron Artest, who scored 20 points and held Pierce to 5 of 15 shooting, and Pau Gasol (19 points, 18 rebounds), the Celtics shooting guard was remarkably ineffective at the worst possible time.

He hit just 3 of 14 shots and had a game-high tying four turnovers, hitting just 2 of 7 three-pointers. His defense was phenomenal on Bryant, but the shot for which he is so well known disappeared like never before. Aside from his Game 2 outburst in which he set a Finals record with eight three-pointers, Allen hit 4 of 30 three-pointers in the series and averaged 11.6 points per game.

The fallout might be great for the 2008 champions. Rivers, who has one year left on his contract, said he'll take time to be with his family before deciding whether he'll return. And while the Celtics coach didn't give much insight into his own future, he abruptly announced that he expects Wallace to retire.

"I don't know if Rasheed will ever play again," Rivers said. "I think he took that out on the floor with him. I think he is thinking about retiring."

Wallace, whose early scoring was key en route to his 11-point, eight-rebound outing, was emotional in his own way afterward. He reportedly attempted to enter the officials room and talk to referee Danny Crawford, only to be turned away by Staples Center security.

Allen is an even more relevant wild card in Boston's future, as he is a free agent this summer, making the notion of the Big Three being broken up a distinct possibility. Asked if he wants to return, Allen said, "I'll deal with that when the time comes, but it's obvious that I don't want to be anywhere else."

Except on the winner's podium, of course, holding the Larry O'Brien trophy to what might have been a stunned and miserable Lakers crowd. Instead, Allen and his teammates cried in near silence.

[Giuseppe]

^^^A few backhanded comments towards the Champs, but, an easily visualized piece.

Matzel, Matzel, good things.

[spursfan1000]

63 mil for 6 players? sheesh

[kobyz]

now Celtics need to trade Garnett, Pierce for draft picks/young talents and rebuild, Garnett and Pierce are still have 2-3 years left and could help some team to win title with a lowered role.

[cobbler]

I said it post 2008 and I still believe it for that crew....

One and done!

[duncan228]

Report: Ainge considering McHale as backup plan to Rivers, might be gone himself (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/)
By Matt Moore

The Celtics' Finals loss to the Lakers has hit the team hard. In its wake, there's uncertainty at every level. Ray Allen is a free agent. Kendrick Perkins may not be back in time for the start of the season. The team needs a younger roster infusion. And most notably, Doc Rivers may be moving on as head coach. Rivers retreated to his home in Orlando, Florida, with no indication of what he's planning on doing career-wise. There's growing confidence that he'll stick around, but you never know.

Which is why, according to the Boston Herald, General Manager Danny Ainge has begun exploring options (http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1262588&format=&page=2&listingType=sco#articleFull) for his replacement. And they're not the names you'd expect.

The Herald says that new Bull's head coach Tom Thibodeau was not strongly considered for the on-deck position if Rivers walks, but a former Celtic great was. The report states that Kevin McHale, currently working as a television analyst for TNT, is being considered for the position if Doc decides he's had enough.

McHale floundered as a general manager in Minnesota, but his work as a coach actually wasn't half-bad. He's got strong ties to the team and the respect of its players.

Of course, it would sure look bad for Minnesota, having had their GM trade their biggest franchise star in team history to a team he eventually took the reigns for, but then, Garnett isn't the player he was three years ago, either.

Perhaps most interesting in the report is a discussion of whether Ainge himself might decide to call it quits, which would definitely signal the closing of the C's window. Ainge suffered a heart attack last year, and there's talk that he might be considering stepping away if the job isn't "fun" anymore.

And one thing's for sure. The last 48 hours has not been fun.

Rivers' impact may be the biggest consideration the Celtics have to deal with this summer, but they've already apparently started looking at options that reach back through their storied history to try and return to the top.

[Armando]

Rivers will be back.

Perkins will heal.

Ray Allen will sign.

Rondo will evolve.

They are our equal, and there is nobody behind the two us worth a tinker's dam.



Really? You forgot about Orlando that fast? Not to mention that Miami and Chicago will look different when 2010-2011 opens. Don't forget about #23 either he will be back as well. Boston will still be a playoff team but I don't know if they have enough to get back to the Finals Ray or no Ray.