The Celtics dedicated the season to their late president, then submitted an unfathomable home record of 5-21 at the All-Star break.Last month, when Kobe Bryant and the Lakers came to town, fans at the TD Banknorth Garden could be heard chanting "MVP" as Bryant dominated the once-sacred parquet and dropped 43 points on the home team. When the Celtics were beaten by the Nets Feb. 9, they were subjected to an indignity reserved for only the most hopeless of sports franchises: A fan 10 rows behind the team bench watched the game with a bag over his head."They wore bags over their heads in New Orleans, and their [NFL] team ended up [almost] going to the Super Bowl this year," said Celtics managing partner Steve Pagliuca.There is one big difference. There are no guaranteed contracts in the NFL. If a player does not live up to expectations, he can be cut loose. No such luxury exists in the NBA, where contracts are ironclad, virtually impervious to exceptions regarding injury, even death (see: Reggie Lewis, and Boston's failed attempt to seek salary cap relief after his tragic passing).The current ownership ambitiously coined their group "Banner Seventeen," but other than their first season in the pro basketball business, when the Celtics were swept by the Nets in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the team has not made it out of the first round of the playoffs. With the playoffs but a pipe dream this season, the locals will be shut out of the postseason for the second year in a row."It has been a disappointing season, but not a disappointing situation," declared team owner and CEO Wyc Grousbeck.In fact, despite the team's record, television ratings and attendance are up. The Celtics were recently honored by the league for generating the most new sponsors, and, according to Grousbeck, they will break even this season.<u>Lottery dreams </u>As the losing streak grew and the Celtics sank in the standings, their chances skyrocketed at securing a top pick in the June draft, which is generally regarded as one of the deepest ever. The two impact players are expected to be Greg Oden of Ohio State, an imposing defensive presence, and Kevin Durant, a spindly Texas freshman who has already drawn comparisons to Kevin Garnett.It is dangerous to have your chances of building a team predicated on hope and luck (just ask Rick Pitino), but that did not stop Celtics personnel from showing highlights of Oden and Durant at their recent owners meeting. The Celtics have been sternly reminded by the league not to lust out loud after college underclassmen; any hint that a team is angling to lose is met with serious consequences.Asked about showing the highlights, Grousbeck smiled and said, "Sorry. No comment." Danny Ainge, the team's executive director of basketball operations, who was not at the meeting, said it's common practice for the scouting staff to review all potential draft picks and show highlight clips to the owners.Dreams of Oden could be fleeting. Both Paul Pierce, who missed 24 games with a foot injury, and Wally Szczerbiak, who missed 20, are back, and the Celtics could win just enough games the rest of the way to fall out of the lottery sweepstakes. That would be fine with Pierce, who is 29 and growing tired of overseeing a rebuilding process in the prime of his career.There have been a number of questionable transactions since Ainge took the reins in 2003, among them the signing of free agent Brian Scalabrine to a contract that has three years and $9.7 million remaining, and taking on Szczerbiak's sizable salary (two years left at $16.6 million), which, in conjunction with his injury history, has made him virtually untradeable.Yet the decision to deal for Raef LaFrentz in October 2003 may have been the most damaging. In doing so, the Celtics took on more than $66 million in salary for a soft 7-footer who was supposed to spread the defense but was simply not a consistent or dangerous perimeter threat.In that trade, the Celtics moved Antoine Walker, who had two years and $28.125 million left on his contract. (They would later reacquire Walker from Atlanta.) The LaFrentz repercussions continued when Boston sent him, Dan Dickau, and the No. 7 pick in the 2006 draft, Randy Foye, to Portland for Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and a second-round pick in 2008.Grousbeck conceded the recent trade history has not been stellar, but said his experience has been that most NBA teams have tepid results.<u>Tricks of the trade </u>Next year will be the most critical in Ainge's tenure. Although the Celtics are the third-youngest team in the league, their salary cap numbers do not reflect that. Young players make short money and usually provide a team with flexibility. Yet Boston's total salaries for next season already exceed the projected salary cap of $50 million.The more onerous contracts include $11.66 million for Ratliff, who has played only two games this season and could very well never play again because of back trouble, and $12.8 million for Szczerbiak. The Celtics will recoup about $4.5 million in insurance money from Ratliff, but that money does not come off the cap.http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/ce..._win_situation/ (Celtics Payroll)
I hate most Boston sports writers, they either state the obvious or try to elude from the real situation (Jackie states the obvious here). Nothing in this article taught anybody anything differently. Also, NEXT year is Ainge's most important? Give me a break, we say that every year. We are in year 4 and he hasn't chosen a direction, and every year we say "this is the big one!" Remember this past summer when Pierce was pretty much promised an All-Star player to play alongside him? Well, that never happened. "Here Paul, see what you can do with Wally."
Well she did point out that all these troubles stem from the Walker-Lafrentz trade. At least with Walker the Celts had a legit #2 option for Pierce. When he was sent packing Pierce was stuck with a role player taking up over 1/5 of the cap space. That one deal crippled the Celtics for years. Then things got even worse when Danny signed Blount to that huge extension which lead to the Wally trade.
