What the Celtics should do when the lockout ends

PBT is working its way through what every team in the NBA should do when the NBA lockout ends. To see all the teams we’ve done so far, click here. Today, we talk Boston Celtics.

Last season in Boston: The Celtics won 56 games, entered the playoffs as the three seed and smacked the Knicks around in the first round. For a lot of teams that would be a good season. In Boston it started the “end of the dynasty that wasn’t really a dynasty” talk. Everyone seemed to focus on two things. One was the trade of Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the deadline for Jeff Green, and how that impacted chemistry. Second is how easily Miami knocked the Celtics out of the playoffs in five games in the second round.

For the record, the Perkins traded is not what cost the Celtics against Miami — they needed offense in the paint against the Heat, something Perkins would not have provided. The loss to Miami happened because the Heat were better at the time. Which is an issue because they are also younger and likely to be even better next season.

Since we last saw the Celtics… they have seen very little change — which is news itself. Boston is keeping its core together — Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo — plus keeping Doc Rivers in charge. They are going to make one more run at a ring. Then it is transition time.

The Celtics did draft E’Twaun Moore and JaJuan Johnson from Purdue back in June, both potentially good players. However, neither is going to play a significant role as a rookie on a contender. And the Celtics fancy themselves contenders.

When the lockout ends, the Celtics need to… figure out what to do about Jeff Green, find some help in the paint and find a way to get a little more athletic. Then go sacrifice a goat to the injury gods, or do whatever else it takes to keep this team healthy for a season.

About the decision to make one more run at it with this core, Jeff Clark is the man behind the fantastic OG Boston hoops site CelticsBlog, explains it for us.

For what seems like the third straight year, the Celtics have one more shot with the Big 3. With Garnett and Allen on the final year of their deals there’s a sense of finality this time. Next year, if they are still in Celtic green, it will likely be because they are back on a steep discount, or something went wrong with the grand plan. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. When this mess of a labor situation is resolved, they have to bring out the duct tape, wires, and bubble gum and hope it looks more like McGyver and less like uncle Cletus’ pickup.

Those guys need help and Celtics fans dream big, but this will be help on a budget for Boston. They are shopping at Payless Shoes, not the Nike store. If Green accepts the qualifying offer ($5.9 million, and the Celtics hope he does) they will have $66 million in salary on the books and seven players under contract. Again Jeff Clark explains:

Regardless of what kind of CBA the sides agree on, the Celtics won’t have much money to throw around. They will hope that the same goes for other teams as well since they are hoping against hope that Jeff Green gets no other reasonable offers and accepts the qualifying offer. “Big Baby” Glen Davis is the other free agent and they’ll probably wait for the market to set his value. He’d help the team, but I don’t think Doc will shed any tears seeing him move on.

Personally, I’m not the world’s biggest Green fan. Oh, he’s a nice player. But the expectations are consistently higher than the result and his defense has lacked. I’d say Boston wouldn’t miss him, but in a down free agent year there are not a lot of viable replacements for him floating around. So hope he takes a one-year offer, then the Celtics can let him go.

Defense is still the calling card for the Celtics and KG is still the anchor of that defense. But he needs help on the front line — that is what Perkins did bring. Ideally they’d get a little offense out of that spot too, but what they need most is defense and rebounding. Clark of CelticsBlog does not paint an optimistic picture.

The biggest need the team has, however, is finding some help in the middle. They need someone that can rebound and defend and get out of the way on offense. Names like Kwame Brown, Jason Collins, and Joel Przybilla don’t exactly quicken the pulse, but they will likely be available in the discount bins that we’ll be shopping at. The other hope is that some amnesty casualty decides to spurn the Heat and sign with the Celtics instead.

Finally the rest of the squad will be filled with rookies (like 1st round pick JaJuan Johnson), young players (like last year’s first rounder Avery Bradley), old faces (probably Delonte West), and maybe even some old flames (Danny has always had a thing for guys like Yi Jianlian, Robert Swift, and Josh Howard). Will it be enough to get the Celtics another shot at a banner or will it just be a “bridge year?” Only father time will tell.

Father time is the key. If healthy and rested, with some help in the paint, the Celtics are a contender. But they are a now a team that is in the second tier of contenders — they need everything to go right for them for it to work. There is no margin for error anymore. And it can be a long season when you need everything to go right.

But count out Boston at your own risk. There are a lot of banners up in that city for a reason.