I have a confession. I have no idea what the Celtics should do next. Bloggers are supposed to have strong feelings and opinions and share them with the world. Usually I do. Normally I write as if I am consulting the team on what they should do or preparing the fans for what they probably will do. Not today. I’m as clueless as a valley girl. If Danny Ainge himself walked up to me and asked for my advice, I’d slap him on the back and say "best of luck buddy."
In trying to read the marathon article by dobbs followed by the twisting logic of The Duke’s conspiracy theory, I think I sprained my brain and I’ll be writing with a limp for a week.
I got about a quarter of the way through writing an article about targeting Marcus Camby as a trade target before I confused myself and ditched it. I got halfway through an article about the luxury tax and bored myself to sleep. That one is gone too. (Side note: the whole process of crumpling up a piece of paper that you’ve been writing on and tossing it into the trash used to be oddly satisfying, but never happens to me anymore. It has been replaced with a simple click of the "x" in the top right. Maybe I need a StrongBad sound file that says "Deleted!" But I digress…)
Here’s the thing, I keep trying to talk myself into thinking that one way is the right direction, only to talk myself right out of it. It is like a one-man reenactment of the Vizzini scene in the Princess Bride.
"Only a desperate man would sell off all his assets to take one shot at a ring so clearly he can’t trade for KG. Only a schizophrenic man would trade for Ray Allen only to turn around and deal Paul Pierce, so clearly he can’t be planning for the future. Only a self loathing man would go with an unbalanced, stuck-between-plans team as it is now, so clearly Ainge can’t stand pat. Only a man with a blank check and a Zeke complex would sign up for 3 max contracts and whatever contract that Al Jefferson is going to re-sign for, so clearly he can’t be targeting a big name in a trade."
Ainge has said a number of times he’s "not done" and he’s got a roster with gaping holes at the center and point guard spots. We’ve already seen the team start to trot out the "Telfair and Ratliff could still be useful" song and dance. Fool me once…
Does that mean we'll go after the really big fish? Ok, maybe my KG dream will finally die, but does that mean we won't go after Gasol either? What about the next tier down? Will the owners CTC (cut the check) by dealing away Ratliff's contract and bringing back someone (like Camby or Odom) that will land them squarely in Luxury Tax Land. By now you've been briefed as to why owners think of that place as a house of horrors and fans have been pointed to the Knicks as a reason why it will never work. Of course, the Mavs did alright with it before getting shellacked in last year's first round. So I'm not sure what theory that proves.
For every plan, there is a risk. It seems that Ainge has painted himself into a corner. He’ll be revealed as a genius or a fool or maybe even both. Whatever happens, I'll be sure not to tell you "I told you so."