You’re not supposed to trade your two best players to title contenders and get better. That shouldn’t work in any sport, but it did for the 2014-15 Boston Celtics. They sent Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks, and Jeff Green to the Memphis Grizzlies, and then made a run at the postseason. They did not advance beyond their first round opponent. LeBron James’ and Kyrie Irving’s reboot of The Cleveland Show is too talented to let that happen, but there is a lot to be excited about for the future of a team that already has 17 championship banners in the rafters of TD Garden, by far the most by one team in one city in basketball. They got swept, but it does not feel nearly as bad as when the C’s lost to the New York Knicks in 2013, which was the inspiration for the first real sports post I made on this blog nearly two years ago, the last time we saw Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Doc Rivers as Celtics, and certainly not as devastating as the so-close-yet-so-far ending to the 2010 NBA Finals against the Lakers. They had no chance this year. That’s how it’s supposed to be. Cleveland is so good that losing to anyone other than the San Antonio Spurs or the Golden State Warriors (and even then, it would still mean they were in the NBA Finals) would be considered a choke job for the ages. It’s okay that the Celtics not a real contender yet, because the franchise still has so much upside. Let’s take a moment now to appreciate how far they’ve come in such a short period of time.
In December, Danny Ainge traded Rondo, the last remaining player from the 2008 championship team and the 2010 team that made it to a seventh game at Staples Center before bowing out to the Los Angeles Lakers, to the Dallas Mavericks for Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright, and Jae Crowder what will inevitably be a late 1st round draft pick (because Dallas always makes the playoffs!), and by the trade deadline, all that remained on in Boston’s possession was Crowder and the pick. Doc Rivers is now coaching the Los Angeles Clippers. Paul Pierce is lighting it up in the playoffs for the Washington Wizards. Kevin Garnett went home to the Minnesota Timberwolves to presumably be the Whiplash-esque mentor to 20 year old budding superstar Andrew Wiggins. Glen “Big Baby” Davis is playing meaningful minutes for Doc in LA on what might be the worst bench of any playoff team. Kendrick Perkins is riding the pine in Cleveland (unless he’s going after Jae Crowder). Ray Allen is out of basketball. Brian Scalabrine and Leon Powe are back with the C’s, but in front office or broadcasting capacities. It was a fun ride, but all rides end eventually.
Trading Rondo closed the book on that era of Celtics basketball. His trade to Dallas was supposed to make the Celtics sink further (they had a losing record with him as their starting point guard and captain), improve their standing for the 2015 NBA Draft, and help take the Mavs to the next level. It did none of those things. As it turned out, Crowder was a great fit for the Celtics, and responded really well to Brad Stevens’ coaching. He’s one of those hard working kids from Marquette, who in hindsight was underutilized by Dallas. Rondo, on the other hand, was a terrible fit for Dallas. On a team that plays best when the ball is moving constantly, like Rick Carlisle had the Mavericks doing before Rondo arrived, Rondo is a point guard who wants control, and who wants to be dribbling the ball for the majority of the possession. In an era where the smart teams place emphasis on three pointers and foul shots, Rondo is a bad three point shooter who does not drive to the hoop nearly enough out of fear of having to go to the foul line. He was a bad fit for Rick Carlisle’s offense, and he hasn’t played defense with any kind of consistency since 2012.
When the Celtics traded Jeff Green to Memphis, they got aging veteran Tayshaun Prince in return. The Celtics were able to get more out of Prince than Memphis was, and flipped him at the trade deadline to the Detroit Pistons for Jonas Jerebko and Luigi Datome.This is the second time the Celtics have traded away Jeff Green. The first time was after they drafted him with the #5 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, and sent him to Seattle (back when Seattle had a team) as one of the pieces that ultimately brought back Ray Allen and Big Baby. History shows us that good things happen when the Celtics trade Jeff Green.
The Celtics are not a contender, and it is not a great place to be in the NBA, if you’re always making the playoffs but never getting anywhere. They have the GM. They have the coach. They have the draft picks. They have the role players. They just need a superstar or two. I didn’t like the taking season. It was mentally exhausting to root for your hometown team to lose to improve draft standing. The Celtics failed to win 30 games in the 2013-14 season, but only landed the #6 pick. The C’s aren’t good at taking. Winning franchises shouldn’t be. Players have too much pride, coaches are too competitive, and even after all the losses, you’re still unlikely to get the ping pong balls to fall in your favor. They could’t get Tim Duncan that way in 1997. They couldn’t get Kevin Durant that way in 2007, and they couldn’t get Andrew Wiggins that way in 2014.
I don;t think the Celtics will be in #8 seed purgatory (or #7 seed purgatory, for that matter. Being the 8th best team would have given them a more competitive opponent in the form of the Atlanta Hawks.) for long, though. The difference between the #11 pick and the #16 pick or whatever, isn’t that great, so making the playoffs doesn’t hurt them in the draft as much as some people think. Getting swept by Cleveland was also a great learning opportunity for Brad Stevens, who coached two Butler University teams to the NCAA National Championship Game, but is younger than Tim Duncan and got his first taste of the NBA playoffs this spring. It’s part of the learning experience for Marcus Smart and Jae Crowder, as they had to guard playoff mode Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
This is a young team. Marcus Smart is 21. Kelly Olynyk is 24. Jae Crowder is 24. Jared Sullinger is 23. Tyler Zeller is 25. Isaiah Thomas (acquired from the Phoenix Suns at the trade deadline) is 26. Evan Turner is 26. James Young is 19. Even Avery Bradley, who is the longest tenured member of the Celtics, will not turn 25 until November, and was still in high school the last time the Celtics won a title. Maybe LeMarcus Aldridge signs with Boston this summer. Maybe one of the many free agent rim protectors lands here. Maybe they package up some of this talent to get a fully formed superstar. There are still a lot of possibilities, but the step forward the Celtics took this season is encouraging. I would take that over what is going on in Philadelphia or Sacramento every day of the week.
Dave's Words 