"I probably (would have played), but since we were in the hunt for a high draft pick, of course things are different," Gomes said. "I understand that. Hopefully things get better. Now that we clinched at least having the second-most balls in the lottery, the last three games we'll see what happens. We'll see if we can go out and finish some games."

“The players weren’t thinking about the lottery and all that,” said Ryan Gomes, “but reality is reality. Now that our position in the lottery is set, hopefully we can go out and win some games.

“Things could change now, but another thing you’ve got to think of is that he (Rivers) was doing that for a reason. It could be for that reason (lottery position) or it could be for getting the younger guys some playing time or seeing who’s going to be here next year. There’s a lot of things that go into that.”

“He’s a beast. He’s man-child. He’s going to be a great player in this league. He can rebound the ball. He has a nose for the ball. He’s always getting the and-one’s, and he’s causing havoc down in the paint. That’s the type of player you need to build championship-type teams. You need guys like that.”

If Boston does this, it must believe its players are stupid. So the Celtics give Rivers an extension this summer, and thus, the players say to themselves, "Now we have to play hard for him, have to listen, because we're sure he'll be around for the long term?"

For now, Rivers doesn't need more money to make his team better. He could use a better coaching staff, especially a savvy defensive mind on his bench. Instead of paying Rivers for a year or two that he'll probably never coach, the Celtics would be wiser to invest in a Dick Harter-type aide to sit with Doc next season. If Rivers really wanted to solidify himself in the locker room, that would be a smarter way to go.