That year, the team was loaded with young players who showed promise. Danny had a bucket load of draft picks to use as trade chips. The Celtics had one star player who was rumored to be on the way out. There were rumors that a disgruntled Paul Pierce wanted out. There were rumors that the Celtics wanted to trade the Captain. Danny constantly said that he wanted to keep Pierce just as he has been adamant about wanting to keep Rondo.
Paul Pierce missed a lot of games with injuries. The Celtics were headed for the lottery and there was a lot of talk about tanking for a better draft pick. Most Celtics fans felt that the Celtics would never attract a big name free agent so they wanted to get a top pick and build through the draft.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the Lottery. Even though they had the second worst record in the league and a very good chance at getting either Kevin Durant or Greg Oden, the lottery once again failed the Celtics. They got the fifth pick, the lowest possible pick they could get with the 2nd worst record.
The rest is history. Danny used all those draft chips and many of his young players to make trades to bring in Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. There was a lot of talk before the trade for KG that he wouldn't re-sign in Boston and didn't want to go there. But, the presence of Paul Pierce helped to change his mind.
The Celtics kept some of their promising young players: Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, and Tony Allen to name a few. But Danny also give up both Al Jefferson and Gerald Green who were promising young talents but both of whom needed time to develop. This past season, we finally saw both players break out and become stars in their own rights.
This season, the Celtics have a lot of young players and a lot of draft picks. Most writers figure that they will be in the lottery again. The league doesn't see them worthy of any national TV games. I signed up for League Pass yesterday and I'm looking forward to watching every game. I think this will be a fun team to watch in spite of their youth and expectations.
And, who knows? Perhaps Danny will work his magic again and next year the Celtics will once again be on top of the world.
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I'll be watching every game this year, too, but I'm a little more optimistic than you are in terms of success. Last season, the Celtics had a ton of games they would've won with a solid last quarter, so this year, assuming guys like Sullinger and Olynyk are improved, I won't be surprised if they find a way to get 35 wins. Who knows? Maybe an 8 seed would come with that.
ReplyDeleteYou're not quite more optimistic than I am. I was thinking more like 40 wins. I started out thinking 45 but have tempered that a bit to 40 wins. I agree that they came very close to winning a lot of games where they faded down the stretch. Better conditioning this season, healthy players, and a bit more experience will make a big difference this season I believe.
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