Welcome to the real offseason - settling in for the downtime of the Celtics calendar

The NBA offseason has a few different phases.

First, once your team has been eliminated from the postseason (or worse, fails to reach it) your own team's offseason officially starts but the playoffs continue and very few transactions occur (unless you have a coaching change or a rare trade during the playoffs).

The next phase is when the playoffs complete and transactions really ramp up.  Trades start happening, the draft occurs, then free agency commences and things really get rolling.  Silly as it seems, this is one of my favorite parts of the year.  I guess it is the wanna-be GM in me.  It feels like my birthday (which actually does fall right around the draft each year) where I get to open new Celtics presents in the form of picks, trades, and signings.

After that is the summer league season which gives us a small taste of basketball before it leaves us for the summer.

Then the real OFF-season begins.  While it is true that some deals can and will happen in the next several weeks, the bulk of the transaction activity has already occurred and for the most part we're just waiting for training camp.

For those new to the site or if you don't recall, the blog takes on a slightly different feel in this phase of the offseason. There are fewer and fewer real news items and we start to pounce on any scrap of rumor or information (the sillier the better).  We start to get more creative and introspective.  Chance are pretty good that by the end of August I'll be quoting Shakespeare, Shania Twian, Dawson's Creek, George Ezra, and Finding Forester - maybe in the same article.

I'm happy to take article idea requests (but I won't make any promises). We'll brainstorm with the staff and come up with some good ideas.

As usual I want to remind everyone of the simple golden rule on this site. Treat each other with respect.  All opinions are welcome and encouraged here.  When everyone remembers that simple guideline, this is a wonderful community of intelligent and passionate Celtics fans.  In fact, the varying opinions are what truly makes this place so colorful and fascinating.  Embrace the differences and enjoy the varying viewpoints in a respectful way and the community will continue to thrive.

I'll also take this chance to encourage you to stretch your own blogging legs by submitting FanPosts.  Or if you like something less formal, check out our Forums.

The Celtics still have to complete the David Lee trade, officially sign Jae Crowder, and keep looking under rocks for ways to improve the roster before training camp.  We'll help you pass the time in between the best we can.  Hope you enjoy.