Boston Celtics

Danny Ainge has a pretty good track record of drafting - especially later in the first round. I'm stating that as a fact even though it is really more of a statement of opinion. Still, I feel like he's got a pretty good track record. Consider this tweet from Sean Grande: Draft picks made by Danny Ainge OUTSIDE the lottery; Tony Allen, Rondo, Jefferson, Sullinger, Bradley, Perkins, Baby, Gomes. Yeah, not bad. — Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) May 16, 2013 Of course you can't just cherry pick the good picks, so our friend Dan Duggan had this retort of sorts. @seangrandepbp @celticsblog Also Johnson, Giddens and Pruitt, all out of league before rookie contracts expired. Fab looks same. Good w/ bad — Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) May 16, 2013 Trained at getting in the last word (hey, he does work with Max), Sean replied with this. To follow up, of course Danny's open to criticism for his draft misses. The same way Miggy is, for the 63% of at-bats he fails to get a hit. — Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) May 16, 2013 Point Grande. Sure, you have to take the good with the bad, but when the good outweighs the bad in something so random as the NBA draft, you take those results to the bank. Take a look at this website for some perspective of what you can get from various draft positions. Now go back and review Ainge's picks here. Tell me there aren't more winners there (based on draft position) than losers. Yes, of course I would have rather drafted DeAndre Jordan (or any number of 2nd rounders from that year) over Giddens. Sure, in hindsight Jimmy Butler has turned out a lot better than JaJuan Johnson. Yeah, Gerald Green was more of a sideshow dunker than an impact player. Still, getting Rondo and Sullinger at 21 helps the old batting average. Getting West, Tony Allen, and Perkins in the high 20's doesn't hurt. Nabbing Baby, Gomes, and Powe in the 2nd round is just icing on the cupcake that Gerald Green blew the candle out on. So what about the 16th pick? What can we expect from a pick just outside the lottery? I'm glad you asked. First of all, Ainge did find Al Jefferson with the 15th pick of the draft. Way back in 2003 (Danny's first draft) we also had the 16th pick plus the 20th. Those we swapped for 13 and 27 and grabbed Marcus Banks (miss) and Kendrick Perkins (hit). But enough about the Celtics history lesson. You likely knew all that. What kind of talent is there at 16 specifically? Well, that first link I shared above breaks down the last 20 drafts and what categories the picks fall into. It turns out that the 16th pick has a fairly nice little bell curve of results (skewed slightly to the bad side). 5% were stars 25% were solid 30% were role players 25% were deep bench players 15% were busts Putting names with numbers, Ron Artest was probably the "star." I'd say Nikola Vucevic looks pretty "solid" these days. Nick Young is a hired gun and Hedo Turkoglu got himself a big contract at one point. Royce White? Well, let's just put him in another category by himself. So if you are looking for a star at 16, don't hold your breath. Busts don't seem all that common, so we'll probably get something in that fuzzy middle ground of "solid" to "deep bench." On one hand, this is considered to be a fairly weak draft and even Ainge has said that there aren't many difference makers in it. On the other hand, there's going to be a lot of movement up and down draft boards and confusion on who should go where. Which creates opportunities for good drafters like Ainge to sniff out a find or catch a falling prospect (like he did with Sullinger). Tomorrow the NBA Draft Lottery will determine the order of the picks in front of us. But that doesn't mean that we won't find a lottery type talent slip through to 16. He probably won't be another Rondo, but I guess you never know. Bonus Link: A look back at the Celtics draft history by position in the first round (from 2012

Say what you want about DMC, "crazy, headcase, bad locker room guy" but...DMC is probably the best center in the NBA and certainly has the biggest up side/talent. DMC can do it all at the 5 spot and there is not a center in the league that he would be over matched by...and he is only 22/23 years old. He is a player that a franchise can build around...but ofcourse to harness that incredible talent and upside DMC has to be in the right situation. Boston...is that situation... It's well documented that Boston is not a top attractive destination for top free agents or top talent in the NBA. Most top players look for situations to play in warmer climates...So, why would Cousins thrive in a Celtics uniform unlike Sacramento? 1. Cousins wants to play for Boston...he has interest in becoming a Celtic and dawning that storied uniform and experience that Celtic Pride (this interest bucks the trend of top talent wanting to come to Boston)...2. He has a college connection with Rajon Rondo as a fellow Kentucky Wildcat and mutual respect exists between the two...DMC has never played with a PG like Rondo who is pass-first...makes everyone better on the court (this duo would be one of the best in the NBA). 3. In Boston exists one of the strongest locker-rooms you will find in all of the NBA to help mold and steer the big fella. 4. Doc Rivers, a players coach and leader of men and extremely skillful in getting players to "buy-in." 5. Kevin Garnett....need I say more? To get somethimg great you often have to give something great or real, real good. I would hate to see Bradley and Sullinger go...they are excellent role players and young....but they are just that, role players. As much as I love them, they are not superstars in this league and alone cannot take the Celtics to Banner 18. Yet, they are good enough and have good value that if the possibility existed to trade Bradley and Sullinger for Cousins I would hope Danny would make the trade. I believe Bradley and Sullinger are more easily replaced than an all world talented center in this league. The Truth, The Captain, Paul Pierce is Mr. Celtic and will always be a Celtic...I would love for him to finish his career in Boston. However, not thinking with my heart, it makes more sense finacially to try and trade him...for the future of the franchise. No one player is more important than the franchise...during the last trade season there was an effort to move Pierce and some trade partners were involved. If it were possible to revisit that deal over the summer I would do my best to make it happen to aquire Josh Smith. Another top talent who WANTS TO COME TO BOSTON that would help put the C's back in contention for a championship...he would succeed in Boston for many of the same reason listed for Cousins...and a frontcourt of KG,Cousins,and Smith would be amoung the best in the league. Or KG could come off the bench allowing Green to be the staring 3 and Josh at the 4 with cousins at the 5. To round this out, I would look into trading Lee/crawford for Tony Allen via sign & trade to lessen the blow of losing Bradley. If in fact OKC Amnesties Perk, he would be a Target as well to get on a minumum deal. Brandon Bass would still be there for depth at the four or maybe transition to the back-up 3 spot behind Green and I would look at a good point guard in the draft to back up Rajon Rondo...Not a perfect team, 3-point shooting would still be lacking somewhat outside of JET and Green...but the C's would well on their way to competing for Banner 18. With a young and experienced core of Rondo, Green, Smith, and Cousins...the Celtics I believe would be favorites in the East for the forseeable future...where the Celtics should be. Starting 5: Rondo/Allen/Green/Smith/cousins... bench: Garnett/Perkins/Bass/Terry/Draft Pick Say what you want about DMC, "crazy, headcase, bad locker room guy" but...DMC is probably the best center in the NBA and certainly has the biggest up side/talent. DMC can do it all a

Terrence Williams is in a bit of trouble for allegedly “brandishing a weapon” during a confrontation with the mother of his 10 year-old son.  KIRO reporter Amy Clancy was at Williams’ arraignment today (that is her photo, tweeted earlier), and she has more details, including: Prosecutor says Terrence Williams’ 10yo son got between him and child’s mother when Williams pulled a gun. @kiro7seattle @celtics — AMY CLANCY (@Amy_Clancy) May 20, 2013 That image is frightening.  However, there is one thing working in Williams’ favor:  Terrence Williams will make his first court appearance today, re: threatening mother of his son with firearm in Kent, WA. Gun not recovered. — Mark Murphy (@Murf56) May 20, 2013 Not having the weapon that was allegedly brandished is a big hole in the prosecution’s case. Again, we live in a world where people are innocent until proven guilty.  We’ll update you with facts of the case.  I’m sure nothing will stop any of you from speculating or jumping to conclusions in the comments, but I’m asking you guys to be respectful when discussing this.  Let’s please refrain from gross generalizations and leaps of logic. Thanks.

The offseason is here for the Boston Celtics, and in just a couple of months, they will begin the process of putting next year’s team together.  We will take a look at the current Celtics and try to figure out what to do with each of them.  We continue today with Jordan Crawford. Leandro Barbosa’s injury was the tipping point for the Celtics this season.  After Rajon Rondo (and Jared Sullinger) went down, they managed to cobble together a nice run with the remaining players.  Barbosa’s added minutes unleashed a little bit of bench offense…… until he too went down with a season-ending ACL injury. Enter Jordan Crawford, brought to the Celtics to fill that void, and possibly help the Celtics find some sort of offensive flow.  He was a starter earlier this season for the Washington Wizards, and had a stretch of double-digit performances in 17 of 19 games (including nine 20+ point games).   The problem is… he shot 41.5% there. That bad shooting followed him from Washington, but the scoring numbers did not because he rarely got enough minutes to turn up the volume on his shooting. So what do the Celtics do with a 24 year-old offense-only player on a his rookie deal? Let’s see… Trade him Crawford makes $2,162,419.  That’s certainly not going to make any splashes in the trade market.  He’s a career 40% shooter, which isn’t exactly encouraging.  And his most memorable playoff moment was this: So what I’m saying is that Crawford alone doesn’t have a whole lot of trade value. He does, however, have a little value as a cheap “throw-in” guy to make a bigger trade work (even wild scenarios in a desperate attempt for size).  If a team is acquiring someone in a deal from the Celtics that they really want, they can pay Crawford $2.1 million as an end-of-bench guy.    Waive him The Celtics can do this with few tricks.  They can put him on waivers, and if a team claims him, then they’re out from under his deal.  If he doesn’t get claimed off waivers, he almost certainly will get signed to a cheaper deal that minimizes the impact of the cap hit.  In a worst-case scenario, the Celtics pay him $2.1 million to go away, and he ends up playing overseas. Still, the most realistic result under this scenario is him clearing waivers, signing a minimum wage deal with some team willing to take a cheap chance on a young guy, and the C’s being on the hook for somewhere just north for $1 million. Extend him Well, they could, technically, extend him.  It’s the exact same scenario as Avery Bradley with slightly different cap numbers.  Crawford’s QO is only $300,000 less than Bradley’s. But I don’t think the Celtics are going down this road with Crawford.  It makes no sense. Keep him (without extending him) He’s still 24.  He’s not making a lot of money.  He theoretically could fill in in a pinch if a guy goes down with a sprained ankle or something.  The Celtics might see him as a cheap option to sit at the end of the bench during a transition year.  If you’re talking about a 9th or 10th man, I suppose you could do worse.  However the Celtics are constructed next season, there’s a good chance Crawford, if kept, would not sniff the floor unless it’s an emergency or a blowout. After that, there’s no reason to make the qualifying offer.  The Celtics could just pass on that, make Crawford a free agent, and say “it’s not you, it’s us” as they break up for good next summer. This This is only if  Ted’s Army’s Aaron Gettings was running the team.  Well, maybe not only him… I’m sure he’s not alone. So to recap… The Celtics could dangle him in a trade either alone, or, more likely, as part of a larger deal. The Celtics could eat a little bit of salary and waive him. They could extend his contract The Celtics could just bring him back for one more se

Greetings my fellow Celtics fans. This past season was definitely one of extreme highs and lows for the Boston Celtics. After losing starting point guard Rajon Rondo to a torn ACL, the team went on an inspiring 7 game winning streak. But the Basketball Gods continued to be unkind to Boston, as rookie Jared Sullinger and key reserve Leandro Barbosa were also lost for the year due to injuries. KG also went through his own battle with staying healthy, and the Celtics limped into the playoffs. It simply was not to be, and Boston fans were treated to their earliest Spring without Celtics basketball in quite some time. I did my best to put together a photo gallery that chronicles last season’s journey. From Italy to Istanbul, Miami to Memphis, Cleveland to Chicago and everywhere in between. Check out the 2012-13 Boston Celtics in pics & GIFs. As an added bonus, I’ve also included two fan-made “Top 10″ videos. I think together, the vids do a nice job of showing some of the most exciting plays from last year’s regular season. Enjoy….

Old friend Kendrick Perkins made headlines last week for his underwhelming performance in the playoffs. Perk’s playoff impotence revived speculation that OKC would consider the amnesty provision on their center. Thunder GM Sam Presti says such speculation is inaccurate: “We just haven’t considered using the provision,” Presti said. “I wouldn’t necessarily directly attribute that to any player on our team. Every team looks at the amnesty provision different based on their different circumstances. But it’s not something that we’ve really explored.” When pressed, Presti went on to praise Perkins. “We think Perk has a lot of value to our team,” Presti said. “He’s a member of a team that won 60 games and helped us to our third division title in three years. I don’t know that we can discount that. I’m sure he’d like to have had a better postseason. But I’m sure that’s pretty universal for the whole group. And we accept that.” The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry lays out numerous reasons why it doesn’t make sense for OKC to amnesty Perk. For starters, the Thunder are not a big market team flush with so much cash they can pay a player $18 million to leave town. Plus, Perk’s toughness and defensive ability are still valued in OKC. But let’s be honest… an NBA GM worth his salt will never talk publicly about amnestying a player unless it’s the last resort. If Presti decides Perkins has to go, he’ll try desperately to trade him first. Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee for Kendrick Perkins works in the Real GM trade machine. But that’s too steep for my tastes. Maybe Ainge can get Presti to bite on a Lee, Fab Melo and Jordan Crawford for Perk deal.

Herald Built to win now, Knicks didn't get close Fab review from Ainge on MeloGlobe Police: Celtics guard Terrence Williams arrested Celtics Green Danny's in a Melo State of Mind Terrence Williams ArrestedCelticsBlog Greg Oden working out, "looking right" NBA Draft Combine observations Celtics Life Where do Paul Pierce & Kevin Garnett rank on the list of all-time Celtics? ESPN Report Card: Jeff Green Red's Army Your Morning Dump… Where Terrence Williams might have f’d everything up CSNNE Rivers return key for Celtics offseason Wakeup Call: LeBron irate at something that wasn't said Report: Williams arrested after domestic violence incident A look at former Celtics in the playoffs Pro Basketball Talk Thunder GM says team won’t amnesty Kendrick PerkinsGreen Street Report: Celtics guard Terrence Williams arrestedBleacher Report Potential Landing Spots for Paul Pierce Boston Celtics Shoudn't Bring Al Jefferson Back to BeantownBoston Celtics: Front Office Thinking to Terminate Paul Pierce Must Be Outlawed Hardwood Houdini A Letter to Kevin Garnett Celtics Title Town Celtics Legends Series: A look at Sam JonesBoston Title Town The Celtics Should Keep Shavlik RandolphMass Live Former Boston Celtics star Antoine Walker wants to return to basketball . . . as a scout2013 NBA Draft: Boston Celtics could move up or down, says Danny Ainge Fan Sided Boston Celtics Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger Will Not Play In NBA Summer League

Herald Built to win now, Knicks didn't get close Fab review from Ainge on MeloGlobe Police: Celtics guard Terrence Williams arrested Celtics Green Danny's in a Melo State of Mind Terrence Williams ArrestedCelticsBlog Greg Oden working out, "looking right" NBA Draft Combine observations Celtics Life Where do Paul Pierce & Kevin Garnett rank on the list of all-time Celtics? ESPN Report Card: Jeff Green Red's Army Your Morning Dump… Where Terrence Williams might have f’d everything up CSNNE Rivers return key for Celtics offseason Wakeup Call: LeBron irate at something that wasn't said Report: Williams arrested after domestic violence incident A look at former Celtics in the playoffs Pro Basketball Talk Thunder GM says team won’t amnesty Kendrick PerkinsGreen Street Report: Celtics guard Terrence Williams arrestedBleacher Report Potential Landing Spots for Paul Pierce Boston Celtics Shoudn't Bring Al Jefferson Back to BeantownBoston Celtics: Front Office Thinking to Terminate Paul Pierce Must Be Outlawed Hardwood Houdini A Letter to Kevin Garnett Celtics Title Town Celtics Legends Series: A look at Sam JonesBoston Title Town The Celtics Should Keep Shavlik RandolphMass Live Former Boston Celtics star Antoine Walker wants to return to basketball . . . as a scout2013 NBA Draft: Boston Celtics could move up or down, says Danny Ainge Fan Sided Boston Celtics Avery Bradley, Jared Sullinger Will Not Play In NBA Summer League [Discuss on CG Forums!]

As we await the draft and discuss the possible players who may be taken with the 16th pick, Danny Ainge is discussing one of last year's draft picks. According to the Herald most of the questions regarding an individual on the Celtics' roster from reporters at the pre-draft workouts were about Fab Melo. Melo spent much of the year in the D-League with the Celtics affiliate, the Maine Red Claws. He posted averages of 9.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots and set a D-league record with 14 blocked shots in one game. With the majority of mock drafts suggesting that the Celtics will take a big man, you have to wonder what will become of Fab if their predictions are true. The majority of the big men who will be available with the 16th pick are projects, just as Fab is, although Fab has a head start with a year at the pro level under his belt. There are rumors that Danny may move up, and if so, he may get a big man who is closer to NBA ready. Danny, for his part was very positive in his comments about Melo. “Fab has really improved, and I think our guys have done a really good job with him,” Ainge said. “I’m excited to see his progress in summer league. He’s really put in the work. He put in a week of work (at the Celtics facility in Waltham) after the season ended, and then he finally took a couple of weeks off to go to Brazil. He’s anxious to get back now. “Our coaching staff has put a lot of time into him, and we’re excited about his future.” Melo's first season was hampered by a few injuries, including a concussion that he suffered when he hit his head on a door frame. Melo is a hard worker and has made big strides in his first year with the Celtics and Red Claws. He is still raw, but there is an upside. Will the Celtics continue their work with Melo, or do they want to start all over with another big man project? It sounds as though Danny's happy with the progress Fab is making and so only time will tell if he wants to continue to develop the Brazilian big man or go in another direction. . [Discuss on CG Forums!]

Terrence Williams was on the verge of coming back to the Boston Celtics next season after being one of the few bright spots of the Celtics’ postseason. Now, that journey is just an afterthought. According to a report from the Kent Reporter, a newspaper in Williams’ home state of Washington, the point guard was arrested yesterday following a domestic dispute. At about 1:55 p.m., officers were dispatched to meet the victim who resides in the downtown Kent area. The victim reported that the father of her 10-year-old son in common, identified as NBA basketball player Terrence D. Williams, arrived to her home for a scheduled visitation exchange of their son. She said during the exchange in the parking lot area an argument ensued. The victim reported that during the argument Williams brandished a firearm and made threats. Williams left the area prior to police arrival, but was later located and taken into custody. What does Williams’ arrest mean for his future with the Celtics? A charge as serious as this does not bode well for what had been an admirable comeback to the NBA for Williams this season. Now though, all of that comes into question. The former Louisville star is under contract for next season, at the veteran’s minimum ($947,000), but that contract is not guaranteed. If Williams does not make the team out of training camp and is waived on or before October 31st, the point guard can be let go without any charge to the salary cap. There are a series of guarantees associated with the deal, with the first deadline coming on June 30th for 200,000 (h/t: ESPNBoston.com). The legal process will play itself out with the Washington native over the next few weeks surely, but given how swiftly and seriously the Celtics’ ownership group has ridded themselves of players involved with gun charges in the past, I’d say I highly doubt we see Williams in a Celtics uniform next season, if the charges are proven. We’ll have much more on this story as it develops, as well as any reaction from the Celtics’ on the arrest. Tweet