According to reports, the Celtics will kick off next season in the same place last season ended: Beautiful Miami. Where the fans show up late and the bongo drums never stop. Where everyones wearing white regardless of a t-shirt giveaway.
Where Walter Ray Allen now calls home.
Man, thats going to be emotional. Can you imagine the tug of war in KGs head as he takes the court? As he wrestles with the demons that want to tear Miami's heart out and the angels that want to pull Allen aside for a 48-minute hug. How about the hype surrounding Ray and Rondos pre-game fist bump? Sure, its not Shaq and Kobe, but around here it might as well be. Well be dissecting that thing like its the last episode of the Sopranos.
And whats Ray going to do while the Heat receive their rings? Stand with the Cs in one final act of solidarity? Stay in the locker room? Lurk in the background, sheepishly staring down at his sneakers? Will he be in the forefront, high-fiving and chest bumping his new teammates as they walk back with the hardware? In that case, forget the 48-minute hug. This means war. This is going to be awesome. If you need for the next three months, Ill be in my bedroom staring at the calendar. (No, I dont really have a calendar)
But aside from the Ray Reunion, and the typical excitement thats associated with Opening Night, theres another reason were all unbelievably hyped for tip off
Danny did it again.
He not only managed to keep the Celtics competitive for a sixth straight season, but he has Boston back in the hunt. Perhaps theyre not in the same class as Miami, OKC or even the Lakers, but theyre in the conversation. Theyre better, deeper, more athletic and versatile than they were last season. Theyre in a better position to succeed than we ever imagined. 2012-2013 was supposed to be Dwight Howard or bust; the end of the Celtics as we knew them. Instead, Danny, Doc and company enter next season as one of the best teams in the East.
Boston Celtics
Again.
Rajon Rondo. Avery Bradley. Paul Pierce. Brandon Bass. Kevin Garnett. Jason Terry. Jeff Green. Courtney Lee. Jared Sullinger. Jason Collins. Keyon Dooling. Kris Joseph. Fab Melo. Dionte Christmas.
Its beautiful how it all came together, and we cant wait to see how it all plays out. But through all the excitement and optimism, we know its not perfect. There are still questions to be answered.
Here are a three to get you started on the three month stretch between now and opening night:
Whats up with the Bigs?
First of all, were counting out Fab Melo this season, right?
Don't get me wrong, there were definitely a few inspiring moments in summer league. Most of all, I was absolutely shocked by Melo's passing ability. He showed a level of awareness and understanding that you very rarely see in players of his size (especially with so little basketball under his belt). While his academic intelligence has been rightfully questioned, his feel for the game gives everyone reason to be optimistic.
Still, hes not ready.
Fab is just a project that I think will be a player in this league at some point, Doc Rivers said recently. I don't know if it'll be next year, but maybe.
Listen, who knows? Maybe Melo will get together with KG and the two will connect like an Avatar and one of those flying dragons. Maybe Garnett will tap into his young protg and the talent will start flowing like wine. But its far more likely that this will be a rather invisible season for Melo. Think Avery Bradley in 2010, and cross your fingers for the same kind of results.
OK, so if Melos out. Whats Boston left with?
First of all, KG. The key to all this. The only reason that Danny was able to have such a successful offseason. But at the same time, if you think that the KG you saw in last years playoffs will be there all next season, youre crazier than Metta World Peace.
Garnett played 37 minutes a game in the playoffs. It will be an upset if he plays much more than 30 next year. And while there will be stretches where he dominatesand theres no doubt hell still be the emotional and defensive foundation of the teamthere will be rough patches. There will be times when he looks old, because in basketball terms, he is old. Lets not kid ourselves: It isnt KGs responsibility to carry the Celtics next season like he did in the playoffs. The goal is to preserve him during the regular so he can carry them again in next years playoffs.
After Garnett, theres Chris Wilcox, who will be 30 years old when the season starts, is coming off heart surgery and hasnt averaged more than 20 minutes a game since the Seattle Supersonics existed. Theres rookie Jared Sullinger who plays bigger than the 6-9 and looks NBA ready, but still has a lot to prove. There's seven-foot Jason Collins, who has nothing to prove but is still only Jason Collins. Brandon Bass and Jeff Green can and hopefully will both crash the boards and provide some offense and versatility at the four.
And thats it. Making one thing very clear: While the Celtics have many strengths, size isnt one of them.
But heres the question: Is that a problem?
Heres a quick look at the big man landscape in the Eastern Conference. For the sake of time and space (shout out to Stephen Hawking), I only focused on playoff contenders:
Atlanta: Al HorfordJosh SmithZaza Pachulia
Brooklyn: Brook LopezReggie EvansKris Humphries
Chicago: Joakim NoahCarlos BoozerTaj Gibson
Indiana: Roy HibbertDavid WestIan MahinmiTyler Hansborough
Miami: Joel AnthonyChris BoshUdonis Haslem
Milwaukee: Ersan IlyasovaJohn HensonSamuel DalembertEkpe UdohDrew Gooden
New York: Marcus CambyTyson ChandlerAmare StoudmireKurt Thomas
Orlando: Dwight HowardGlen DavisAndrew Nicholson
Philadelphia: Spencer HawesKwame BrownLavoy AllenArnett Moultrie
OK, so which groups really scare you here?
Id say the Bullswho won't have Derrick Rose until March. The Knickswho have no backcourt whatsoever. The Hawksbut that whole team is in flux. The Pacersdefinitely still improving.
But the biggest takeaway is that while the Celtics may not have a fantastic front court, theyre not alone. The East isn't exactly swimming with big men. At the end of the day, you're better off being versatile than all together enormous, and the Celtics definitely qualify as the former.
How injured was Paul Pierce?
Erase Pierce's heroic effort in Game 2 against the Hawks, and his ridiculous three-pointer at the end of Game 5 in Miami, and it was a pretty tame postseason for The Truth. By his standards, at least. He had trouble on defense. He had trouble getting his shot off. There were games when he couldn't even get himself to the foul line.
But we obviously can't judge him without knowing how badly he was hurt. It would be crazy and disrespectful and worthy of stoning to sit here and write off Pierce without first giving him an opportunity to rehab his knee and show us what he's got next fall.
But regardless of where he is, here's the real Truth about the Celtics. In recent yearsin fact, for most of the last fivethey were a team with roles set in stone: Rondo = point guard. Allen = shooting guard. Pierce = small forward. Garnett = power forward. Perkins = center. They said to teams: "This is who we are. We do it better than you. You have to adapt to us." These days, the Celtics are a team founded on versatility and athleticism. KG and Bass play four and five. Green plays three and four. Terry and Bradley play one and two. Lee is mostly just a two guard but is young and athletic enough to move over to the three in a pinch.
There's going to be a lot of mixing and matching; a lot of adapting to other teams. And Pierce is the least versatile of the lot. He does what he does. And if he can still do it like the old Paul Pierce (or even as good as the "older" Paul Pierce), then it doesn't matter. Conversation over. He's as big a part of this team as he's been since 1998. But if what we saw in last year's playoffs comes down to more than just a knee injury, then things might start to change.
When will Avery Bradley be ready?
At the very least, it's a damn shame that Bradley's missing out on this off-season. It's second time in three NBA summers that he's been relegated to recovery instead of working on his game. But more pressing than that lost luxury is that it doesn't look like he'll be ready for the start of the season. Of course, we can't be sure. These are the Celtics. We're never sure.
Either way, this is where the Courtney Lee signing comes in huge. Lee can knock down the corner three like Bradley. He loves to move without the ball like Bradley. He may not be the one-on-one defender that Bradley is (few are), but those extra three-four inches will make it harder for teams to exploit the Boston backcourt like the Hawks tried to do with Joe Johnson.
But the Celtics need Bradley. There's a big difference between Courtney Lee and Jason Terry and Keyon Dooling and Jason Terry as your second string backcourt. Especially when you consider that when the latter is your reality, Doc will be less inclined to rest Rondo. And keeping Rondo fresh for the playoffs is just as important as resting KG.
But we'll see. The good news is that this isn't an injury that's supposed to haunt Bradley for the rest of the season, or even worse, his career. Once he recovers he'll be recovered, and be ready to go back to being Avery Bradley.
The bad news is that we still don't know when that we'll be.
The worst news?
We still have three long months until opening night in Miami!
It can't come quickly enough.
Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http:twitter.comrich_levine