<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I walked into the press conference like I was walking onto a used car lot. I knew they were going to try to sell me, but I wasn?t buying. Not me, pal, not this time. I was too cautious, too cynical and too smart. Well, I was too cynical. The Celtics [team stats] were not going to fool me. I was just going to take a look around the lot and kick some tires. Then I?d probably kick the whole sorry organization about the head and face when I sat down at the keyboard later that day. The Celtics were coming off a season in which they had won 32 games and finished 25 out of first place, and now they were desperately trying to regain their stature in this town. They needed to do something to generate a buzz, to get on the back page and at least create the illusion that banner No. 17 was coming soon. It was July 25, 1994, and they wanted to be relevant again. So they invited us to a downtown hotel where they served cold cuts, potato salad, and a large pile of manure. M.L. Carr unveiled his newest signing, the one and only Dominique Wilkins, as if he were a low-mileage Caddy that had been driven to church by an old lady. At first, I rolled my eyes and laughed. You can?t be serious? Dominique? He was 34. He was damaged goods. And even when he was young and healthy, he was more interested in scoring titles than NBA titles. This is your savior? More like a ?73 AMC Gremlin with a fresh paint job. Oh, but then came the hard sell from M.L. and the Celts. Dominique is healthy again, they said. He?s motivated. He will show the young guys how to win. He was coming off a season in which he averaged 26 points a game. He was a nine-time All-Star, a former scoring champ, and a really, really exciting guy to watch. M.L. did everything but put his arm around me and say, ?Let me talk to my manager and see what I can do.? He sold me. To this day, I feel like a rube who fell off a turnip truck and then bought a cell phone in the mall with a five-year plan. I walked away believing a rejuvenated Dominique could help the Celtics contend in the wide-open Eastern Conference. And if nothing else, I said, they would be - and here?s where I would like you to shoot me in the head - relevant again! How relevant? They went from 32 wins to 35, from 25 out to 22, from fifth place to third. They went from not making the playoffs to getting bounced out of the first round by Orlando. Dominique averaged 17.8 points a game to lead the team. He left for Greece at the end of the season. They went back to 33 wins. It was a pointless, shortsighted acquisition designed to arouse casual fans who were killing time between ?Die Hard? movies. It did not help the young players, and it sure didn?t move the franchise closer to its 17th title. And let?s not forget: Dominique was an unrestricted free agent. He cost the Celtics nothing. By contrast, Kevin Garnett will cost them everything. Naturally, one of the reasons so many people are excited about this potential trade is - you guessed it - it will make the Celtics relevant again. They won 24 games last year. This move could get them into the 30s, maybe all the way to 40. Maybe KG could even get them into the playoffs, where they would get eliminated quicker than Pacman Jones on ?Jeopardy!?</div> Source: Boston Herald
The only way to make the team relevant is to win games. There were two players that would have done it, via trade in Garnett and Marion, but apparently neither wants to go to Boston and both have made it clear. I don't think any other of the rumored deals will have much of an affect on anything. Danny AInge will probably be fired this year because he's basically hit a pause button on the franchise and he can't find a way to make something out of what he has. Now that it's obvious that Danny isn't going to make that blockbuster deal that he's been looking to make, I think it will be 3-4 years before the team can even think about contending for anything other than a division championship.
It seems like this team is better than what there record indicated last season. They should stay with what they have and either draft a player that can have an immediate impact, or trade for a veteran that will improve their team. They have an emerging all star in Jefferson, a top 15 player in the league in paul pierce, and tons of other talented players who just need to be put in the right position to succeed. I think this team is maybe 2 good players away from being a contender. And they can get those with either the #5 pick or a trade.
