2013 NBA Offseason Happenings

[Fox]

Does anyone feel like the Celtics could have done more? That forgettable Orlando team got by them in 2009.

I'm not yet sure how I should feel.

Without Kevin Garnett though, it was unlikely they would have been able to beat LeBron's Cavs and then the Lakers in the finals.

[Lights Out]

Prior to the Garnett/Allen/Pierce run, the knock on Doc Rivers was that he couldn't manage a game and he lucked into wins. He happened to get three great players at or near their primes and ride them to two Finals appearances and a championship. That's pretty good, but it's also not that different than, say, Larry Brown or Rick Carlisle. They both won championships with streaky teams, but had a fat lot of nothing to show for their careers otherwise.

Go look up the roster he won Coach of the Year with in 2000 and you'll see why he's not just some "lucky coach" who "only won with streaky teams."

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I was watching them and remember the feel-good award he was given for coaching a bad team in a bad conference to a bad 41-41 record.

Doc Rivers is probably a better coach since then, but I don't think that this is the final silver bullet for Clippers fans. Maybe I'm wrong.

[C's]

Does anyone feel like the Celtics could have done more? That forgettable Orlando team got by them in 2009.

I'm not yet sure how I should feel.

You're not alone. It's hard to call an era a failure when it brought a championship (one title in six years is something almost every other franchise would kill for), but this team underachieved.

2009 is a write-off since Garnett was injured. There was no excuse for losing to Orlando the way we did, but Cleveland would have taken us down anyway. Had he been healthy we would have won number two, we were absolutely dominating that year, even without a bench to speak of.

We were within minutes of the championship in 2010, but Ray Allen decided to play hero ball, and no one could get a rebound to save their life. That was a flawed team that was garbage on the boards all season long, and it finally caught up to us way later than it should have. Instead of wasting time signing Finley and making that pointless Eddie House trade, Ainge should have been out getting guys who can rebound the ball. This was the year I really started to dislike Glen Davis as well. He couldn't defend, couldn't rebound, the dude was a complete liability out there, but not only is he getting significant minutes, him and Nate were always trotting around the court and the sidelines jumping up and down and making those dumb faces, acting like they're hot . And ESPN would always replay them on those stupid montages.

I felt like we laid down a few times in 2010 as well. In the ECF we had a 3-0 lead on Orlando, we were absolutely kicking the out of them, but we took our foot off the gas and let them back into the series before ending it in six. Game three in the finals was a bit of an ambush coming off the high of stealing a game in LA, it happens. But in game six we just let LA have it without putting up a fight. We were cocky in the same way the Shaq-Kobe Lakers were cocky, except we were much more vulnerable than they were.

In 2011 everybody was injured and we were mauled by Miami. In retrospect LeBron joining the Heat probably ended us. We had no business making it as far as we did in 2012, all we did was capitalize on injuries. We barely got by the :censored:ing Sixers for christ sake.

2010 still leaves an incredibly sour taste in my mouth, because that second championship makes all the difference between the new big 3 being etched in the Celtic/NBA lore and having their numbers retired, and being the underachieving flash in the plan they'll probably be remembered as. Most Bostonians (or ex-Bostonian in my case) my age cite Aaron Boone or the 08 Super Bowl as their most painful sports moment, but for me it's the 2010 NBA Finals, especially since it was never avenged and we always knew that we didn't have much time with this group.

[Lights Out]

I'd blame Danny Ainge more than Doc for the Celtics' Big Three only ringing once. Ainge handed out too many bad contracts, especially near the end of their run, and wrecked team chemistry by constantly stirring up trade rumors for all his stars. That probably explains why Doc is going to have a say in personnel decisions in LA.

[The Six]

The Clippers already had a coach who lost in the first round. Why would they want a different one?

Exactly. Some people need to stop acting like Doc will magically turn this team into a championship contender.

LOL yeah people think the team will get better by "magic," as opposed to, say... by HAVING A DECENT COACH.

[Lee Noire]

I was watching them and remember the feel-good award he was given for coaching a bad team in a bad conference to a bad 41-41 record.

Doc Rivers is probably a better coach since then, but I don't think that this is the final silver bullet for Clippers fans. Maybe I'm wrong.

I have yet to meet a fellow Clipper fan that thinks Doc=championship, not with the way the team is constructed. I have no doubt the Clips are far from done this offseason. The thing that excites me about Doc is that he brings a winning culture and devotion to defense that LAC just isn't known for. They still have to play the games but this franchise is making it clear that it is ready to climb out of the basement and become a serious threat in the west.

[NJTank]

Silver may be a one contract commissioner regardless. There is a bigger NBA fan who is of the same age of Silver, which the players may ask for and lobby for come 2017-8.

Barack Obama

Even Rasheed Wallace is sayin "put down the bong!"

Obama should become NHL commish. He probably knows more about hockey then the current commissioner(Which isn't saying a lot)

I dont think that is so shocking, I can still see a scenario where George W. Bush takes over for Bud Selig.

Lets not forget Doc once played for the Clippers

[Gary]

Nets and Celtics discussing trade that would send Garnett and Pierce to Brooklyn for Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace and Tomike Shenglia and 3 first round draft picks

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/22548431/report-nets-celtics-discussing-deal-for-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce

[Burkell007]

Nets and Celtics discussing trade that would send Garnett and Pierce to Brooklyn for Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace and Tomike Shenglia and 3 first round draft picks

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/blog/eye-on-basketball/22548431/report-nets-celtics-discussing-deal-for-kevin-garnett-paul-pierce

What the freaking hell Danny!!! Why are you taking on BIG contracts (Wallace) and late 1st picks, you can't get one lottery team to bite? First the clippers and now this? There draft picks will be late rounders and he needs to get more, I mean that's 2 sure fire hall of gamers , and your pracatily fiving them away???

[Lights Out]

Looks like the trade's done. Nets are a solid, well-rounded team on paper now, probably on the Bulls/Pacers tier of the East but not as good as Miami. Coaching will be a question mark as Kidd is unproven and already faced with a locker room full of big names and big egos. Not sure why the Celtics even entertained this trade, since aside from the three late first-rounders, they're basically getting fleeced, taking on a bunch of bad contracts and scrubs.

[Cujo]

SMH.

[nash61]

Could we see Canadians picked #1 overall two years in a row?

[MellowTheMyth]

Celtics should have just let Pierce & KG retire respectfully as Celtics. But, hell, what do I know?

[dbadefense1990]

Celtics should have just let Pierce & KG retire respectfully as Celtics. But, hell, what do I know?

Probably more than Danny Ainge's ability to make the Celtics better in their Big-3 era.

Either this is a black-and-white photocopy of some Celtics, or these are some hideous jersey juxtapositions.

[C's]

Nets and Celtics discussing trade that would send Garnett and Pierce to Brooklyn for Kris Humphries, Gerald Wallace and Tomike Shenglia and 3 first round draft picks

http://www.cbssports...ett-paul-pierce

What the freaking hell Danny!!! Why are you taking on BIG contracts (Wallace) and late 1st picks, you can't get one lottery team to bite? First the clippers and now this? There draft picks will be late rounders and he needs to get more, I mean that's 2 sure fire hall of gamers , and your pracatily fiving them away???

Looks like the trade's done. Nets are a solid, well-rounded team on paper now, probably on the Bulls/Pacers tier of the East but not as good as Miami. Coaching will be a question mark as Kidd is unproven and already faced with a locker room full of big names and big egos. Not sure why the Celtics even entertained this trade, since aside from the three late first-rounders, they're basically getting fleeced, taking on a bunch of bad contracts and scrubs.

The picks are unprotected. Well, 16 and 18 are, not sure about 14. Don't know where this 'wtf they're late picks!!' stuff is coming from, Nets just set themselves for two years as a fifth seed before they fall off the cliff and find themselves at a crossroads once again. Those 16 and 18 picks could be steals.

Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries are albatross contracts right now. The Celtics' goal is to strike it rich in next year's draft. If they succeed in doing that, and overnight they go from a team in the cellar to a team on the rise, Humphries' expiring contract will have some value in 14-15 to some team who needs to clear salary (those teams will always exist). Who knows what that could bring Wallace expires after 16-17, we could well be on our way to contention by then, his expiring deal could yield something that will help us. In the meantime the lack of cap space won't mean anything to the Celtics, Boston isn't a destination city. Sad to see Pierce and KG go but we did well here.

As for Brooklyn, I put them in about the same spot in the east as they were last year. But I wouldn't be at all surprised if the wheels came off and they ended up being this year's Lakers. Johnson and Lopez are volume scorers who can put the ball in the basket, but they don't much else. Especially Lopez, he's lousy defensively and horrible on the boards. Far from ideal on a team where lots of guys will be craving the ball. Pierce, KG, and Terry are all on the back half of their 30s and could run out of gas at any time. They're a net positive if they stay close to last year's production, but between Johnson/Lopez's selfishness, DWill's volatility, the lack of a bench (this isn't a 2007 Celtics or 2010 Heat situation where vets will be lining up to sign there) and the fact that Kidd's a rookie coach coaching former on-court rivals... I don't know. There's only one basketball, and no one to police the inmates if things start to get hairy.

[NJTank]

The Nets will be the biggest obsticle for a Heat three peat. You heard it here first. If they stay healthy the Brooklyn Nets will win the East next year.

[C's]

That's adorable. Seriously.

[OnWis97]

The Nets will be the biggest obsticle for a Heat three peat. You heard it here first. If they stay healthy the Brooklyn Nets will win the East next year.

No. The Nets just got better, but now they will be a threat to the Bulls and Indiana as the team that the heat will need to beat in the East Finals. To go further, the Nets will not only need to be healthy, but they'll need the Heat (and maybe Bulls or Pacers) not to be.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I don't think the East is automatic for the Heat, if only because of fatigue. The Nets just got two old guys who couldn't get out of the first round. Yes, they'll sell a ton of jerseys, but I don't think this is a difference maker. I'd rather have the Pacers roster now or the Nets roster in 2009.