8 Points on the Celtics

by Jim Weeks on Jul 13, 2007 9:33 AM EDT in Green Bandwagon

The Ray Allen Trade - I'm still thinking about this one. I feel like the NBA is different than the NFL and MLB in the sense that names matter. The elite players from year to year are obvious and Allen is at the very least on that cusp. I'm not as concerned about his ankles as I was Wally Szczerbiak's myriad of health concerns and the guy can flat out score. Furthermore, the C's definitely got better for the coming season. But I can't shake the fact that it reminds me of one of those Fantasy Baseball trades where Andruw Jones gets traded for Garrett Atkins. The bad owners say, "Wow you got Jones." The good owners sarcastically say, "Good deal...2 seasons ago."
Al Jefferson - He's been pretty quiet, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I expect a monster season. There's no doubt that I will draft him two rounds too early in my fantasy draft.
Gerald Green - He is probably the remaining healthy Celtic that the organization would be willing to deal. So when he drops 40 on the C's in two seasons and dunks from the 3 point line to clinch it will be hard to handle. On the flipside he could be heading into his 6th Vegas summer league in a couple of years.
The Sebastian Telfair Redemption - I wouldn't say the hype surrounding Telfair when he came out of high school was his fault. But he did help cultivate it and profited from it as well. It is safe to say that he was not quite ready to play in the NBA or handle its off the court pitfalls. And I remain leery of the new "everything is great" hype. Finally, if my employer told the world that I was on my way out and then kept me around, I would be completely useless. Although I would not be auditioning for another multimillion dollar contract either. In conclusion Telfair is the ultimate wait and see.
Defense - Was I the only one who cringed when it was reported that Doc Rivers will be running the defense? I was still uncomfortable after Rivers mentioned that he had not been this involved with the defense since he won Coach of the Year. Here's a thought. Why didn't he do so after any of the disappointing seasons since winning that award? The team as it is composed can definitely score. But can it defend? That is the question.
Leon Powe - I'm a big Leon Powe fan. Everyone seems to be. And by all accounts he's working hard and doing well in Vegas. I do fear that he is one of those Boston players that the local fans can't speak logically about. Also he would probably benefit from consistent minutes and a defined role. Good luck finding that in Boston.
Ryan Gomes - There have been a decent number of Gomes stories this off season. So he's definitely not falling through the cracks in that regard. Yet he still seems like the odd man out. I'm pretty sure someone will eventually overpay him and it won't be Boston. In the meantime he is an affordable role player.
Brandon Wallace - I really wish I was not so in the dark on this guy. But I never let my ignorance get in the way of rash judgements. So I have two concerns:

When a guy depends on athleticism and energy I wonder if he can keep it up over the course of an NBA season.
Does he deserve minutes and if so will he get enough to make an impact?

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