What the Celtics would look like if they signed Dwight Howard

I am fully against the Celtics going all-out to sign Dwight Howard and I have written about it numerous times*, but I do believe that the starting five in your squad above would be the best starting five in the NBA next year. [My concern is not for next season, but locking up Dwight for the foreseeable future – I don’t believe Rondo + Dwight = good things. But, with the Big 3 returning for one more year, most of the pressure comes off Rondo and Dwight, and all they have to do is fill their roles. Dwight is a step up from O’Neal.]

Your squad lacks bigs off the bench, and bringing back Bass would be an absolute must if they intend on actually contending for the championship. JJJ and Stiemsma aren’t ready to be 20mpg guys yet, and KG will need some rest and Howard often gets into foul trouble.

Ainge won’t want 6 very young guys on his squad – Bradley, Moore, JJJ, +3 draft picks – so I expect him to trade a few of those picks or perhaps a player of two for a dependable big. I’d love for the team to keep Bradley, Moore, and JJJ, but the draft picks are expendable if they bring back a solid, contributing big to come off the bench.

You’ve made a good start for the team. Now, round out the bench.

*Howard is not needed in Boston!

I know a lot of fans have been panting over the possibility of Dwight Howard joining the team at some point in the next 6 months, but why? What would a team of Rondo and Howard accomplish?

The entire point of having a true center that draws double-teams is that he can kick it out to open shooters. That is a system that is near-impossible to defend when done right. What good would Rondo be with Howard? Rondo cannot hit open shots. And a true PG of Rondo’s nature won’t be needed to dump the ball into Howard for alley-oops and dunks. Jameer Nelson can do that just fine. Will Dwight be running the fast break with Rondo? Not likely. Will Dwight clog up the lane, making it more difficult for Rondo to penetrate? Absolutely. Rondo would be better served alongside PFs/Cs like Kevin Love, Blake Griffin, Al Horford, or Marc Gasol, guys who can do an equal measure of running the floor and hitting the outside shot.

Did Shaq ever win with a top-flight PG? No, he won with score-first SGs. Did Hakeem win with a top-flight PG? No, he won with a stable of shooters (but mostly he did things himself). Tim Duncan (not a true C, but often played the position) won with both a score-first PG and a terrific SG. No other center-dominated team has won the title in the past 30 years, unless you count Moses Malone’s 76ers back in 1983 (and they had Dr. J, Andrew Toney, and Maurice Cheeks). There is no precedent for a pass-first PG and a true C ever winning the championship during the past 30 years.

I think these fans have on beer goggles, thinking how great it would be to have the Big-3 and Rondo and Dwight Howard. That’s an unlikely scenario, even if only for next season. But that roster – Rondo + Big 3 + Howard – would be the only one that could possibly win a championship. Once the Big 3 leave, we’ll basically have Orlando North.

But we trade up in the draft so we have a shot at a quality player to back up or start for the SG position

I would much rather have bass then Jeff Green

Dwight isn’t coming there is no lame club scene in Boston. Dwight is lame screw that guy.

All these scenarios where KG and Allen sign for the minimum are total fairy tales. Who’s going to sit down with Kevin Garnett in the off season and ask him to be paid the same as Greg Steimsma???

I’m not sure that you’re going to like it as much. It would be something like this

1. Rondo, Chancey Billups, Bradley

2. Moore, Daniels, Pietrus or similar

3. Pierce, a rookie like Jeff Taylor, and a vet min guy

4. Johnson, Bass, a random cheap big like Steimsma

5. Howard, a rookie like Tyler Zeller, and a vet min guy (Ben Wallace?)

Is Dwight ready to lead? Dont think so based on this “"I told them at halftime, `If you don’t want to play, just stay in the locker room, because it don’t make sense for a team who we should beat to just demolish us."’ ”http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;ylt=AvCXXGyv5.yC5kMmiK7ZQCW8vLYF?gid=2012012703" target="blank">http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=AvCXXGyv5.yC5kMmiK7ZQCW8vLYF?gid=2012012703

There’s leading by example and leading by making everyone else better and there’s pitching a hissy (while turning in the standard 20/10). Smells like the Nuke LaLush syndrome: million dollar body and a 10 cent head.